4. 


Digitized  by 

the  Internet  Archive 

in  2015 

https://archive.org/details/colorproblemspraOOvand_0 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


t 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 

A    PRACTICAL    MANUAL  FOR 
1  HL   LAY   hlUDLJNl    Or  CULOK 

By 

EMILY   NOTES  VANDERPOEL 

FTITH  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SEVENTEEN  COLORED  PLATES 

LONGMANS,  GREEN,  AND  CO. 
91  AND  93  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York 
LONDON  AND  BO  MB  AT 
1902 

Copyright,  1901,  by 
Emily  Noyes  Vanderpoel, 


All  rights  reserved. 


BOSTON,  U.S.A. 


My  Father 
WILLIAM  CURTIS  NOYES 


PREFACE 


ROM  a  scientific  standpoint  admirable  works 


on  color  have  been  written,  but  they  demand 
more  time  and  study  than  many  can  give  to  them, 
and  are  too  theoretical  to  be  easily  understood  ; 
while  those  written  from  an  artistic  standpoint 
may  be  useful  to  those  who  paint  pictures  but 
are  not  of  much  benefit  to  larger  classes  of  people 
who  are  artists  in  other  occupations.  Painters  of 
pictures  must  study  color  as  well  as  lines  and 
composition  ;  but  a  better  understanding  of  color 
would  also  be  of  great  value  to  decorators,  de- 
signers, lithographers,  florists,  dressmakers,  and 
milliners ;  women  in  their  dress  and  home  decor- 
ation, and  many  others.  For  such,  to  combine 
the  essential  results  of  the  scientific  and  artistic 
study  of  color  in  a  concise,  practical  manual,  and 
to  classify  the  study  of  color  in  individual  eyes, 
in  light,  in  history  and  in  nature,  has  been  the 
aim  of  the  author  of  this  book.     Also,  as  color 


vii 


viii 


PEEFACE 


cannot  be  fully  appreciated  by  any  written  de- 
scription, the  text  has  been  made  as  brief  as  possi- 
ble, the  plates  full  and  elaborate. 

It  has  been  asked  by  artists  who  have  given 
years  of  study  to  form,  perspective  and  composi- 
tion, why  it  should  be  necessary  to  study  color  if 
one  has  a  good  eye  for  it,  to  which  another  ques- 
tion may  serve  as  answer.  Suppose  a  person  in- 
tending to  make  art  his  life  work  has  a  good  eye 
for  form,  will  he,  therefore,  begin  to  paint  pictures 
before  learning  to  draw,  or  without  going  through 
a  thorough  drill  in  perspective  ?  Later,  having 
some  subject  in  his  mind  which  he  wishes  to  put 
on  canvas,  he  does  not  stop  to  review  all  the  rules 
he  studied  of  form  and  perspective ;  the  knowl- 
edge and  facility  he  gained  in  that  study  will 
enable  him  unconsciously  to  crystallize  his  thought 
into  better  shape  on  his  canvas.  Does  the  posses- 
sor of  a  naturally  fine  voice  think  he  can  dis- 
pense with  the  time  and  trouble  of  cultivating  it  ? 
The  same  reasoning  may  well  be  applied  to  color 
and  its  study. 

E.  N.  V. 


INTRODUCTION 


"Tj^OR  some  years  I  have  known  of  the  study  and 
research  the  author  of  this  book  has  devoted 
to  problems  in  Color,  and  its  uses  in  the  arts  of 
Design  and  Decoration,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  me 
that  the  result  of  much  of  this  work  is  to  be  given 
to  the  public  for  the  use  of  those  who  are  inter- 
ested in  the  subject. 

A  great  deal  will  be  found  in  these  pages  that 
will  be  of  practical  service,  particularly  to  those 
who  have  not  been  able  to  read  the  works  of 
Chevreul,  Von  Bezold,  Rood,  Church,  and  others. 
Indeed,  even  in  these,  careful  study  would  be  nec- 
essary to  select  passages  describing  combinations 
that  could  be  applied  to  special  work. 

Much  attention  is  here  given  to  contrasts  of 
modified  or  subdued  colors,  such  colors  as  would  be 
required  constantly  in  decorative  designs  covering 
large  spaces,  against  which  points  of  more  positive 
color  would  be  placed.    One  of  the  greatest  diffi- 

ix 


X 


INTKODUCTION 


culties  in  arranging  a  color  design  is  in  determin- 
ing the  qualities  and  quantities  of  color  in  an 
effective  and  agreeable  way,  and  very  few  works 
give  the  useful  hints  on  this  subject  contained  in 
this  book.  Under  the  heading  of  "  Historic  Color  " 
are  some  very  interesting  and  original  diagrams, 
presented  in  a  way  easily  to  be  understood  and 
made  use  of  in  actual  practice. 

The  study  of  color  from  the  scientific  side  has 
very  little  attraction  for  the  layman,  and  it  is  even 
difficult  for  a  painter  to  get  out  of  such  study 
much  that  will  help  him  in  his  work  ;  but  the 
presentation  of  some  of  the  salient  points  of  the 
scientific  side,  by  one  who  has  also  borne  in  mind 
the  artistic  side,  cannot  fail  to  make  this  book 
attractive  and  useful  to  a  great  number  who  wish 
to  know  something  of  the  laws  that  underlie 
agreeable  arrangements  of  color. 

R.  SWAIN  GIFFORD. 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

Preface   vii 

Introduction   ix 

List  of  Plates   xiii 

1.    Color-Blindness    3 

II.    Color  Theories   13 

III.  Color  Qualities   26 

IV.  Contrasts  and  Complements   48 

V.    Color-Harmonii^   73 

VI.    Historic  Color  107 

VII.    Nature  Color   Ill 

VIII.    Special  Suggestions  115 


Appendix  A  —  Definitions  125 

Appendix  B  —  Books  for  Reference    .....  133 


xi 


LIST  OF  PLATES 


I. 

II. 
III. 
IV. 

V. 
VI. 
VII. 
VIII. 
IX. 
X. 
XI. 
XII. 
XIII. 
XIV. 
XV. 
XVI. 
XVII. 
XVIII. 
XIX. 
XX. 
XXI. 
XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 


XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 
XXVIII. 
XXIX. 
XXX. 


Wools  as  sorted  by  a  Color-Blind  Man. 

Solar  Spectra. 

Table  of  Spectral  Colors. 

The  Spectral  Colors  (a)  In  their  order  of  Luminosity; 

(b)  Pure,  and  Grayed. 
Advancing  and  Retiring  Colors. 
Advancing  and  Retiring  Colors. 
Tints. 
Shades. 

Violet  with  its  Extremes. 
Blue  with  its  Extremes. 
Green  with  its  Extremes. 
Yellow  with  its  Extremes. 
Orange  witli  its  Extremes. 
Red  with  its  Extremes. 
Shades  by  Contrast. 

Spectral  Colors  on  Black,  White,  and  Gray. 

White  on  Spectral  Colors. 

Black  on  Spectral  Colors. 

Gray  on  Spectral  Colors. 

Spectral  Red  with  its  Complement. 

Spectral  Red  Disk  for  Experiment  in  Complements. 

Spectral  Red  and  its  Complement,  Blue-Green,  in  their 

relative  Proportions. 
Spectral  Orange  and  its  Complement,  Green-Blue,  in 

their  relative  Proportions. 
Spectral  Yellow  and  its  Complement,  Spectral  Blue,  or 

Spectral  Blue  and  its  Complement,  Spectral  Yellow,  in 

their  relative  Proportions. 
Spectral  Green  and  its  Complement,  Purple,  in  their 

relative  Proportions. 
Spectral  Violet  and  its  Complement,  Yellow-Green,  in 

their  relative  Proportions. 
Milton-Bradley  Color  Machine. 
Table  of  Complements  arranged  in  Pairs. 
Table  of  Complements  arranged  in  a  Circle. 
Contrast  Diagram. 


xiii 


XIV  LIST  OF  PLATES 


XXXI.  Color  analysis  from  a  Prize  Dinner-table. 

XXXII.  Color  analysis  from  Teacup  and  Saucer. 

XXXIII.  Harmony  of  one  Color  ;  Harmony  of  Contrast  ;  Com- 

plex Harmony. 

XXXIV.  Color  analysis  of  a  Book  Advertisement. 
XXXV.  Harmony  helped  by  Outline. 

XXXVI.  Good  Dyads,  or  Pairs. 

XXX VII.  Good  Triads. 

XXXVIII.  Harmony  by  Gradation. 

XXXIX.  Harmony  by  Change  of  Quality. 

XL.  Harmony  by  Change  of  Quantity. 

XLI.  Harmony  by  Change  of  Both  Quality  and  Quantity. 

XLII.  Harmony  by  the  Addition  of  another  Color. 

XLIII.  Harmony  by  the  Addition  of  Black. 

XLIV.  Harmony  from  a  Dominant  Hue. 

XLV.  Harmony  by  Interchange. 

XL VI.  Harmony  by  Counterchange. 

XL  VII.  The  True  Character  of  some  of  the  so-called  "  Whites." 

XLVIII.  Some  Changes  by  Gradation. 

XLIX.  Color  analysis  from  Assyrian  Tiles. 

L.  Color  analysis  from  Assyrian  Tiles. 

LI.  Color  analysis  from  Assyrian  Tiles. 

LII.  Color  analysis  from  a  Mummy  Cover. 

LIII.  Color  analysis  from  an  Egyptian  Mummy  Case. 

LIV.  Color  analysis  from  a  Mummy  Case. 

LV.  Color  analysis  from  a  Mummy  Cloth. 

LVI.  Color  analysis  from  a  Mummy  Cloth. 

LVII.  Color  analysis  from  a  Mummy  Cloth. 

LVIII.  Color  analysis  from  a  Mummy  Cloth. 

LIX.  Color  analysis  from  a  Mummy  Cloth. 

LX.  Color  analysis  from  a  Mummy  Cloth. 

LXI.  Color  analysis  from  a  Mummy  Cloth. 

LXII.  Color  analysis  from  an  early  Greek  Vase. 

LXIII.  Color  analysis  from  a  Greek  Vase. 

LXIV.  Color  analysis  from  a  Greek  Vase. 

LXV.  Color  analysis  from  a  Greek  Vase. 

LXVI.  Color  analysis  from  Arab  Mosaics. 

LXVII.  Color  analysis  from  Arab  Illumination. 

LXVIII.  Color  analysis  from  Moorish  Tiles. 

LXIX.  Color  analysis  from  a  Panel  of  the  Alhambra. 

LXX.  Color  analysis  from  a  Panel  of  the  Taj  Mahal,  India. 

LXXI.  Color  analysis  from  Damascus  Tiles. 

LXXII.  Color  analysis  from  Celtic  Ornament. 

LXXIII.  Color  analysis  from  Italian  Majolica  Vase. 

LXXIV.  Color  analysis  from  Panel  of  Dutch  Inlaid  Cabinet  of 

the  15th  Century. 

LXXV.  Color  analysis  from  Spanish  Embroidery. 

LXX VI.  Color  analysis  from  Spanish  Embroidery. 

LXXVII.  Color  analysis  from  an  Antique  Persian  Rug. 

LXX VIII.  Color  analysis  from  an  Antique  Rug. 


LIST  OF  PLATES 


XV 


LXXIX.  Color  analysis  from  an  Antique  Rug. 

LXXX.  Color  analysis  from  an  Antique  Rug. 

LXXXI.  Color  analysis  from  an  Antique  Rug. 

LXXXII.  Color  analysis  from  an  Antique  Rug. 

LXXXILI.  Color  analysis  from  an  Antique  Rug. 

LXXXI  V.  Color  scheme  of  an  Antique  Rug. 

LXXXV.  Color  analysis  from  an  Antique  Rug.    (Plate  Ixxxiv.) 

LXXXVI.  Color  analysis  from  Japanese  Silk  Tapestry. 

LXXXVII.  Color  analysis  from  Japanese  Silk  Tapestry. 

LXXXVIII.  Color  analysis  from  Japanese  Silk  Brocade. 

LXXXIX.  Color  analysis  from  border  of  Japanese  Cloisonne 
Vase. 

XC.  Color  analysis  from  Japanese  Cloisonne  Vase. 

XCI.  Color  analysis  from  Japanese  Skirt  Panel. 

XCII.  Color  analysis  from  Japanese  Brocade. 

XCIII.  Color  analysis  from  Chinese  Porcelain. 

XCIV.  Color  analysis  from  a  Black  Hawthorn  Vase. 

XCV.  Color  analysis  from  a  Rose-colored  Vase. 

XCVI.  Color  analysis  from  Yellow  Chinese  Porcelain  Vase. 

XCVII.  Color  analysis  from  a  Chinese  "  Egg-shell  "  Plate. 

XCVIII.  Color  analysis  from  a  Biitterfly. 

XCIX.  Color  analysis  from  a  Stone. 

C.  Color  note  from  a  Discolored  Propeller  Flange, 

CI.  Color  note  from  Leaves  on  a  Tree. 

CII.  Color  note  from  a  Sunset  Sky. 

cm.  Color  note  from  Bare  Woods  on  the  Edge  of  a  Meadow. 

CIV.  Color  note  from  Evergreens  against  a  Gray-Blue  Rain- 
cloud  . 

CV.  Color  note  from  a  Shadow  on  White  Ground. 

CVI.  Color  note  from  a  Blue-bird. 

CVII.  Color  note  from  a  Slice  of  an  Orange. 

CVIII.  Color  note  from  an  Orange  Canna  Blossom. 

CIX.  Color  note  from  a  Bunch  of  Azaleas, 

ex.  Color  note  from  Oak-leaves  against  a  Distant  Hillside. 

CXI.  Color  note  from  Oats  seen  from  the  Edge  of  the  Field. 

CXII.  Color  note  from  a  Pnssy  Willow. 

CXIII.  Color  note  from  a  Trout  Pond. 

CXIV.  Color  note  from  a  Tree  Fungus. 

CXV.  Color  scheme  from  Winter  Landscape. 

CXVI.  Spectral  Red,  neutralized  by  Black  and  White. 

^      CXVII.  Spectral  Yellow,  neutralized  by  Black  and  WhitOc 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CHAPTER  I 

COLOR-BLINDNESS 

THE  relation  of  color  to  light  is  much  the  same 
as  that  of  music  to  sound.  Color  has  its 
many  hues,  its  long  scales  of  tints  and  shades,  its 
true  and  its  false  chords.  Mere  sound  gives  us  but 
little  pleasure  ;  when  developed,  however,  into  its 
highest  form,  music,  we  are  thrilled,  as  by  the  song 
of  a  bird,  a  favorite  ballad,  or  a  Beethoven  Sym- 
phony. So  in  light,  our  enjoyment  culminates  at 
the  glories  of  color  in  a  flower  or  a  sunset,  at  the 
shadows  that  play  over  the  hills,  or  at  the  varied 
hues  of  a  salt  marsh.  Hence  we  may  aptly  term 
color  the  music  of  light ;  and  when  we  think  of  the 
wonderful  ways  in  which  it  has  been  used  and 
combined  by  painters  and  designers  for  hundreds 
of  years,  it  must  seem  strange  to  us  that  its  har- 
monies have  not  been  as  thoroughly  studied  and 
classified  as  those  of  sound. 

Furthermore,  color  has  come  to  be  so  closely 

8 


4 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


connected  with  all  the  occupations  and  enjoyments 
of  mankind  that  it  is  hard  for  us  to  realize  that 
many  persons  are  wholly  or  partially  blind  to  its 
beauties.  It  is  well  known  that  there  are  some 
individuals  with  such  perfect  organs  of  hearing 
that  they  are  able  to  distinguish  the  slightest 
soimds,  who  yet  are  so  utterly  unable  to  distinguish 
between  two  tones  or  between  the  harmonies  and 
discords  of  music  that  they  are  said  to  have  no 
ear."  So  there  are  those  whose  eyes  are  as  well 
formed  for  seeing  all  and  distant  objects,  but  who 
are  unable  to  see  color  as  it  is  seen  by  people  with 
normal  eyes.  Such  individuals  may  be  said  to 
have  "no  eye"  for  color,  and  are  scientifically 
termed  "  color-blind." 

This  fact  is  not  so  well  known ;  and,  in  view  of 
it,  any  one  interested  in  color  will  understand  the 
wisdom  of  beginning  a  study  of  color  with  some 
knowledge  of  color-blindness,  and,  if  possible,  with 
having  his  eyes  examined  by  an  expert.  Such  an 
examination  is  a  short  and  simple  matter.  Dr. 
William  Thomson  of  Philadelphia  has  devised  what 
he  calls  a  "  color  stick,"  on  which  colored  wools  are 
so  hung  and  numbered  that  it  is  not  even  necessary 
to  be  an  expert  to  use  it,  and  with  the  help  of 
which  color-blindness  can  easily  be  detected.  It 
has  been  used  with  great  success  over  some  fifty 
thousand  miles  of  railroad.    From  the  same  hand 


I 


COLOR-BLINDNESS 


5 


has  lately  come  a  newer  and  simpler  form  of  the 
same  mvention. 

Color-blindness  is  seldom  a  total  want  of  the 
power  to  see  colors,  but  is  rather  a  want  of  the 
true  normal  perception  of  colors,  and  it  is  more 
common  than  is  generally  supposed.  The  most 
common  form  of  the  defect,  which  has  been  called 
by  some  "  red-blindness,"  is  that  of  not  seeing 
red,  but  of  confusing  it  with  green,  as,  for  instance, 
being  unable  to  see  any  difference  between  the  red 
flower  of  a  geranium  and  the  green  of  its  foliage  ] 
between  green  grass  and  red  autumn  leaves.  A 
color-blind  person  will  sort  variously  colored  wools 
in  the  strangest  way,  putting  the  reds  among 
the  greens,  and  mixing  the  blues  and  the  violets 
together. 

Plate  I  shows  part  of  the  result  of  an  examina- 
tion of  a  color-blind  man  by  Doctor  Thomson.  The 
patient  was  given  one  hundred  and  fifty  different- 
colored  wools  to  sort  in  little  heaps  according  as 
he  saw  them  to  be  red,  blue,  green,  etc. ;  he  seemed 
to  hesitate  over  but  few  of  them.  These  he  put  by 
themselves  in  a  heap  called  neutral.  To  a  normal 
eye  the  result  is  almost  incomprehensible,  as  he 
mixed  green  with  all  the  other  colors  and  made 
other  as  strange  combinations.  Di-chromatic  vision 
has  been  suggested  as  a  fitting  term  for  such  de- 
fective  color  perception,  as  colors  to  red-blind 


6 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


persons  amount  to  but  two,  viz.,  yellow  and  blue, 
with  a  long  range  of  neutral  grays  between. 

There  are  other  forms  of  color-blindness  which 
are  less  common.  Some  persons  seem  to  see  but 
red  and  blue,  classing  yellow  and  green  with  red. 
A  less  common  defect  is  that  of  not  seeing  violet, 
while  there  are  a  few  cases  on  record  where  all 
sensation  of  color  is  wanting,  everything  appear- 
ing in  differing  degrees  of  gray.  One  such 
instance  coming  under  the  notice  of  the  writer 
occurred  temporarily  from  over-strained  nerves  in 
a  person  gifted  with  an  abnormally  fine  color- 
sense.  No  doubt  some  people  are  born  color-blind, 
but  the  defect  is  also  brought  on  by  disease,  by  the 
excessive  use  of  tobacco,  alcohol,  and  other  stimu- 
lants, and  may,  or  may  not,  prove  permanent. 
According  to  Abney,  the  disease  begins  in  the 
centre  of  the  eye,  so  that  those  suffering  from  its 
early  stages  can  match  colored  wools  correctly,  but 
when  given  instead  small  colored  pellets  to  match 
make  many  mistakes,  because  a  pellet  may  happen 
to  be  directly  before  the  small  blind  spot  that  is 
insensible  to  its  color,  while  the  larger  mass  of 
wool  extends  before  the  whole  retina.  Doctor 
Charcot  and  his  school  in  Paris  have  made  many 
examinations  into  visual  disturbances,  and  through 
these  examinations  much  of  the  peculiar  coloring 
and  mannerism  of  some  of  the  modern  painters  of 


I 


COLOR-BLINDNESS 


7 


the  so-called  impressionist,  tachist,  mosaist,  gray- 
in-gray,  violet  colorist,  archaic,  vibraist,  and  color 
orgiast  schools  has  been  explained.  The  artists 
tell  the  truth  when  they  say  that  nature  looks  to 
them  as  they  paint  it,  but  they  are  suffering  from 
hysteria  or  from  other  nervous  derangements  by 
which  their  sight  is  affected. 

For  a  long  time  railroad  engineers  would  not 
believe  that  examinations  for  color-blindness  were 
necessary,  but  when  shown  the  results  of  such 
an  examination  the  surprise  of  those  with  normal 
eyes  was  intense.  They  realized  what  it  would  be  to 
travel  on  a  train  in  charge  of  an  engineer  who  did 
not  know  when  the  red  danger  signal  had  been  put 
in  place  of  the  usual  green  one.  In  other  spheres 
of  life  correct  knowledge  of  color  is  not  so  vitally 
necessary,  yet  to  artisans  of  many  kinds  —  decora- 
tors, florists,  manufacturers,  dressmakers,  milliners, 
etc.  —  it  is  both  useful  and  important. 

As  to  the  extent  of  color-blindness,  it  has  been 
estimated  that  in  England  about  one  person  in 
eighteen  is  more  or  less  afflicted  with  it.  In  1873 
and  1875  Dr.  Farre  examined  in  France  one 
thousand  and  fifty  officials  of  various  grades,  and 
found  among  them  ninety-eight  color-blind,  or  nine 
and  thirty-five  hundredths  per  cent.  In  1876 
Professor  Holmgren  examined  in  Sweden  two 
hundred  and   sixty-five   persons  on  the  Upsala 


8 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


Gefle  line,  with  the  result  that  thirteen  were  found 
to  be  color-blind.  Seebach  found  five  young  per- 
sons out  of  forty-one  in  a  gymnasium  who  were 
color-blind.  None  of  them  had  been  at  all  con- 
scious of  the  defect. 

Among  the  visitors  to  the  International  Health 
Association  in  London,  in  1884,  Mr.  F.  Galton 
found  a  large  number  of  men  and  a  small  number 
of  women  with  more  or  less  defective  color-per- 
ception. In  this  country,  examinations  in  the 
army  and  navy  and  among  railroad  engineers 
reveal  that  color-blindness,  if  not  as  general  as  in 
England,  is  quite  common.  Dr.  Thomson  states 
that  as  far  as  has  been  gathered  from  statistics 
generally,  the  percentage  of  color-blind  men  in 
the  civilized  world  is  four  per  cent.,  or  one  in 
twenty-five,  —  among  women  one  in  four  thousand. 
While  he  has  seen  a  great  number  of  color-blind 
men  he  has  never  met  a  woman  with  the  defect. 

Singularly  enough  this  color-blindness  —  the 
confounding  of  one  color  with  another,  or  the 
want  of  perception  of  certain  colors  —  does  not 
prevent  great  enjoyment  of  both  nature  and  art. 
A  person  so  color-blind  as  to  see  no  difference 
between  the  scarlet  of  a  geranium  blossom  and 
the  green  of  its  leaves,  or  who  buys  a  pair  of 
bright  green  gloves  supposing  them  to  be  brown, 
is  still  an  enthusiastic  and  seemingly  an  intelligent 


I 


COLOR-BLINDNESS 


9 


admirer  of  landscape  and  art.  One  cannot  say 
from  what  the  enjoyment  arises,  but  it  is  certainly 
there. 

There  is  a  noted  instance  of  a  man  who  learned 
in  later  life  that  he  was  color-blind,  and  then 
first  understood  why  he  had  never  been  able  to 
pick  as  many  strawberries  as  his  boy  companions, 
because  with  his  defect  he  saw  no  difference  be- 
tween the  colors  of  the  berry  and  that  of  its 
leaf. 

There  is,  however,  a  very  simple  way  in  which 
it  is  possible  for  some  color-blind  persons  to  correct 
in  a  measure  their  erroneous  impressions.  If  they 
have  something  green  to  match  and  fear  they  may 
mistake  red  for  the  green,  by  looking  at  their 
samples  through  a  green  or  red  glass  they  can 
prove  whether  or  not  they  are  correct.  Through 
a  green  glass  the  green  will  keep  its  color,  while 
the  red  will  look  nearly  black.  Through  a  red 
glass  the  red  will  remain  unchanged  and  the  green 
will  seem  nearly  black. 

Color-blind  people  can  have  colored  glasses 
mounted  as  spectacles  at  small  cost,  which  will 
almost  entirely  relieve  their  defect  and  be  of  great 
help  in  their  work. 

How  far  the  eye  of  a  color-blind  person  is  sus- 
ceptible  of  education  is  still  uncertain.  Sufficient 
experiment  has  not  been  made  in  that  direction, 


10 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


but  the  fact  that  women  notice  color  more  than  do 
men  and  arCj  as  a  general  rule,  more  correct  in 
their  judgment  of  color,  points  to  the  fact  that 
the  eye  is  unconsciously  educated  by  its  surround- 
ings. The  constant  discrimination  in  choice  of 
dress  and  home  decoration  which  enters  early  into 
a  girl's  life  gives  an  education  which  men,  in 
Europe  and  America  at  least,  are  deprived  of, 
from  generally  wearing  black  or  quiet  colors. 

That  an  eye  normal  in  its  perceptions  of  colors 
is  capable  of  cultivation  cannot  be  doubted.  "  It 
does  not  admit  of  doubt  that  individual  sensibility 
to  color  admits  of  large  variations,  and  that  it  is 
susceptible  of  immense  improvement.  This  culti- 
vation of  the  sense  of  color  is,  however,  rather  psy- 
chological than  physiological,  rather  mental  than 
physical.  It  is  not  that  the  organ  of  vision  is  im- 
proved, but  our  power  of  interpreting  and  coordi- 
nating the  senses  which  it  transmits  to  the  brain. 
And  here  it  is  that  the  effects  of  association  come 
most  prominently,  though  often  unconsciously,  into 
play.  We  try  to  trace  out  the  causes  of  the  vast 
numbers  of  color  sensations  which  we  are  contin- 
ually receiving,  but  we  constantly  find  that  the  cold 
methods  of  analysis  fail  to  explain  the  mental  ap- 
preciation with  which  we  regard  the  astounding 
fertility  of  nature  in  its  gifts  of  color."  ^ 

^  Church,  Colour. 


I 


COLOR-BLINDNESS 


11 


Artists  often  find  that  when  the  eyes  are  over- 
stimulated  by  false  lights  or  colors,  or  want  of  bal- 
ance in  the  colors  looked  at,  the  nerves  are  so  irri- 
tated that  a  confusion  of  color  and  complementary 
tones  takes  place.  If  continued  to  any  length  of 
time  the  nerves  become  so  fatigued  that  the  color 
sense  is  lost,  and  the  eye  responds  only  to  grada- 
tions of  black  and  white. 

That  there  are  also  subtle  shades  of  difference 
in  the  sensibility  to  color  even  of  good,  normal  eyes, 
no  one  who  has  paid  any  attention  to  art  can  fail 
to  know.  These  shades  of  difference  it  is  impos- 
sible to  gauge,  and  they  can  only  be  known  by  the 
differing  qualities  of  work  produced.  In  a  studio 
where  perhaps  a  dozen  pupils  may  be  painting 
from  one  piece  of  still  life,  a  vase,  or  bit  of  drapery, 
such  differences  can  be  clearly  seen.  One  pair  of 
eyes  may  have  a  tendency  to  see  more  violet  than 
the  others,  another  pair  sees  everything  more  bril- 
liantly or  in  a  higher  key  than  the  others.  One  stu- 
dent may  have  more  difficulty  in  harmonizing  on 
his  canvas  the  different  colors  of  the  model  than 
the  rest,  while  another  with  perhaps  less  skill  in 
using  the  paint  may  have  such  a  fine  eye  for  har- 
mony as  by  the  mere  charm  of  his  color  to  delight 
every  one  in  the  room. 

There  comes  with  advancing  years  a  subtle 
change  in  the  condition  of  the  eye  which  it  is  well 


12 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH.  I 


to  understand.  With  age  the  lens  of  the  eye  loses 
its  purity  or  whiteness  and  becomes  tinged  with 
yellow.  This  is  not  generally  known,  and  the 
change  is  not  always  strongly  marked,  but  it  pro- 
duces a  decided  effect  upon  the  perception  of  blue 
and  bluish  colors.  The  case  of  the  English  painter 
Mulready  may  be  cited  as  a  good  instance.  His 
pictures  in  his  later  years  were  different  in  color 
from  his  earlier  ones,  being  much  colder  in  tone, 
that  is  bluer  or  less  yellow.  If,  however,  they 
were  looked  at  through  a  piece  of  slightly  yellow 
glass  they  appeared  of  the  same  coloring  as  his 
earlier  work,  painted  when  his  eyes  were  normal. 


CHAPTER  II 


COLOR  THEORIES 

A*  FULL  review  of  the  theories  held  about 
color  is  not  necessary  in  a  work  of  this 
nature,  and  those  who  have  more  time  for  and 
further  interest  in  the  subject  will  find  mentioned 
in  Appendix  B  to  this  volume  the  titles  of  a  num- 
ber of  admirable  works  and  treatises. 

The  sensation  of  color  is  first  and  preeminently 
produced  by  light.  But  an  electric  discharge,  in- 
ternal causes,  or  even  pressure  on  the  eyeball 
may  also  cause  it ;  just  how,  we  do  not  know\ 
In  fact,  the  whole  subject  of  color,  its  causes, 
and  its  mechanism,  is  still  in  the  region  of 
speculation,  although  of  speculation  that  may  be 
useful. 

Leaving  aside  the  theory  of  color  production  by 
other  causes,  we  will  give  our  attention  to  that 
color  sensation  caused  by  the  light  of  the  sun,  and 
briefly  to  that  produced  by  artificial  light. 

The  cut  on  page  14  shows  the  construction  of  the 
eye  viewed  from  the  side.  We  see  that  light  enters 
the  front  of  the  eye  through  the  cornea  and  lens 
a,.nd  strikes  the  interior  coating,  which  is  the  retina. 

13 


14 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


This  is  a  wonderful  membrane,  very  thin,  but  com- 
posed, as  we  see  in  the  next  ilkistration,  magnified 
many  times  (page  15),  of  a  marvellous  network 
made  of  minute  nerves  and  blood  vessels  ending 
on  the  innermost  surface  in  tiny  rods  and  cones. 
These  rods  and  cones  in  some  mysterious  way  are 
acted  upon  by  light,  and,  like  the  outposts  of  an 
army,  send  messages  of  form  and  color  to  the  brain. 


THE   CONSTRUCTION   OP    THE   HUMAN   EYE   AS   VIEWED    FROM    THE  SIDE. 

(Nearly  life  size.) 


Color  is  therefore  spoken  of  as  "  an  internal  sensa- 
tion," and  is  fine  or  poor  as  are  the  eyes  and 
brain  of  the  person  who  sees  it. 

What  is  light,  we  ask  ?  Scientists  answer  that 
it  is  something  which  comes  to  us  from  a  luminous 
or  light-giving  body.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  pronounced 
it  to  consist  of  fine  atoms  moving  toward  us  rapidly. 
A  later  theory  is  called  the  ivave  theory  —  that 


•OPTIC 
iNERVe 


II 


COLOR  THEORIES 


15 


there  exists  throughout  space  a  fine  impalpable 
medium,  "  the  light-bearing  ether,"  —  that  this 
ether  moves  in  waves,  which,  beating  upon  the  ret- 
inas of  our  eyes  as  ocean  waves  beat  upon  the 
shore,  produce  w^hat  we  call  liglit. 

Sunlight  compared  to  candle  or  gas  light  appears 
to  be  white ;  this  white  was  proved  by  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  in  1672  to  consist  of  many  colors  com- 


CROSS-SECTION  OF  THE  RETINA,   SHOWING   THE   RODS  AND  CONES. 

(Very  much  magnified.) 

bined  in  one  ray.  He  was  the  first  to  divide  such 
a  ray  of  sunlight,  which  he  did  by  letting  it  fall 
through  a  slit  in  the  window  of  a  darkened  room, 
then  through  a  prism,  or  three-sided  piece  of  glass, 
on  white  paper.  If  this  experiment  be  repeated 
there  will  be  seen  "  a  long  streak  of  pure  and  beau- 
tiful colors  which  blend  into  each  other  by  gentle 
gradations."    Anyone  who  has  seen  a  rainbow  has 


16 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


seen  the  same  separation  of  colors,  as  the  raindrops 
act  in  the  same  way  as  the  prism  and  divide  the 
rays  of  sunlight  into  their  component  colors. 

The  "  spectrum  "  is  the  name  given  to  the  streak 
of  colors  when  produced  by  the  help  of  the  prism, 
and  it  and  the  rainbow  contain  the  same  colors  in 
the  same  order.  The  experiment  has  also  been 
made  of  passing  this  streak  of  colors  through  a 
second  prism,  when  they  again  unite  and  the  ray 
of  simple  white  light  reappears. 

An  instrument  called  a  "  spectroscope"  has  been 
invented,  and  is  constantly  used  by  scientific 
students  of  color,  which  analyzes  a  ray  of  light 
still  better  than  the  simple  prism.  With  its  aid, 
early  in  this  century,  Wollaston  and  Fraunhofer 
discovered  that  the  spectrum  of  sunlight,  in  addi- 
tion to  its  colors,  was  crossed  by  many  fine,  dark, 
fixed  lines.  These  have  been  named  Fraunhofer 
lines,  and  are  most  useful  in  dividing  and  map- 
ping out  the  limits  of  the  different  colors.  Still 
a  later  invention  called  a  "  diffraction  grating," 
made  either  of  speculum  metal  or  of  glass  sil- 
vered on  the  back  and  ruled  with  fine  parallel 
lines,  sometimes  as  many  as  eighteen  thousand  to 
the  English  inch,  is  used  in  place  of  a  prism. 
With  the  use  of  improved  methods  Professor 
Rowland  of  Johns  Hopkins  University  has  made 
one  ruled  with  some  fifty  or  sixty  thousand  lines. 


II 


COLOR  THEORIES 


17 


A  ray  of  sunlight  can  be  divided  by  this  without 
the  disadvantage  of  crowding  the  colors  in  the 
middle,  as  is  unavoidable  by  the  wedge-shaped 
glass  of  the  prism. 

Plate  II  shows  a  solar  spectrum  as  produced  by 
a  prism  and  also  one  as  shown  by  a  diffraction 
grating.  They  both  give  the  colors  and  the  main 
Fraunhofer  lines,  the  latter  being  numbered. 

Although  not  essential  to  the  practical  use  of 
this  manual,  we  will  now  return  to  the  theories 
of  the  primary  colors,  so  called,  upon  which  differ- 
ing views  have  been  held.  Sir  David  Brewster's 
theory  of  three  primaries  —  red,  yellow,  and  blue 

—  has  been  the  most  popular,  because  of  the  ease 
with  which  the  three  so-called  secondary  colors 
may  be  made  by  mixing  paint  of  the  three  prima- 
ries, as  follows  :  red  and  blue,  violet ;  blue  and 
yellow,  green ;  yellow  and  red,  orange.  Artists 
have  generally  adopted  it ;  Chevreul,  the  great 
director  of  the  Gobelin  tapestries,  based  his  whole 
color  system  on  the  theory  of  three  primary  colors 

—  red,  yellow,  and  blue  ;  three  secondar}^  colors 
made  by  combinations  of  the  first  three  —  orange, 
green,  and  violet ;  and  three  tertiary  colors  made 
from  combinations  of  the  second  three  —  olive, 
russet,  and  citrine.  We  must,  however,  discrimi- 
nate carefully  between  pigments,  paints,  and  light. 
By  experiment  we  prove  that  yellow  and  blue  light 


18 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


do  not  make  green,  but  white  ;  that  red  and  green 
light  make  yellow ;  and  so  on,  so  that  the  theory 
of  Thomas  Young  is  now  more  generally  followed 
by  scientists.  As  Rood  gives  it  in  his  Modern 
Chromatics,  "  there  can  be  in  an  objective  sense  no 
such  thing  as  three  fundamental  colors,  or  three 
primary  kinds  of  colored  light.  In  a  totally  differ- 
ent sense,  however,  something  of  this  kind  is  not 
only  possible,  but,  as  the  recent  advances  of  science 
show,  highly  probable.  We  have  already  seen  in  a 
previous  chapter  that  in  the  solar  spectrum  the  eye 
can  distinguish  no  less  than  a  thousand  different 
hues.  Every  small,  minute,  almost  invisible  por- 
tion of  the  retina  possesses  this  power,  which  leads 
us  to  ask  whether  each  atom  of  the  retina  is  sup- 
plied with  an  immense  number  of  nerve  fibrils  for 
the  reception  and  conveyance  of  this  vast  number 
of  sensations. 

"  According  to  the  theory  of  the  celebrated 
Thomas  Young,  each  minute  elementary  ^Dortion  of 
the  retina  is  capable  of  receiving  and  transmitting 
three  different  sensations  ;  or  we  may  say  that  each 
elementary  joortion  of  its  surface  is  supplied  with 
three  nerve  fibrils,  adapted  for  the  reception  of 
three  sensations.  One  set  of  these  nerves  is 
strongly  acted  on  by  long  waves  of  light  and  pro- 
duces the  sensation  we  call  red ;  another  set  re- 
sponds most   powerfully  to   waves    of  medium 


II 


COLOR  THEORIES 


19 


length,  producing  the  sensation  we  call  green; 
finally,  the  third  set  is  strongly  stimulated  by 
short  waves,  and  generates  the  sensation  known 
as  violet."  (This  might  perhaps  rather  be  called 
violet  blue,  as  scientists  differ  as  to  the  exact 
shade.)  "  The  red  of  the  spectrum,  then,  acts 
powerfully  on  the  first  set  of  these  nerves ;  but 
according  to  Young's  theory,  it  also  acts  on  the 


Red 


Green 


Blue 


DIAGRAM  ILLUSTRATING  THE  YOUNG-HELMHOLTZ  THEORY  OP  COLOR 
SENSATION. 


two  other  sets,  but  with  less  energy.  The  same  is 
true  of  the  green  and  violet  rays  of  the  spectrum  ; 
they  each  act  on  all  three  sets  of  nerves,  but  most 
powerfully  on  those  specially  designed  for  their 
reception."  All  this  will  be  better  understood  by 
the  aid  of  the  accompanying  diagram,  which  is 
taken  from  Helmholtz's  great  Avork,  Physiologi- 
cal Ojytics.     In  this  figure,  along  the  horizontal 


20 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


lines  1,  2,  3  are  placed  the  colors  of  the  spectrum 
properly  arranged,  and  the  curves  above  them 
indicate  the  degree  to  which  the  three  kinds 
of  nerves  are  acted  on  by  these  colors.  Thus  we 
see  that  nerves  of  the  first  kind  are  powerfully 
stimulated  by  red  light,  are  much  less  affected 
by  yellow,  still  less  by  green,  and  very  little  by 
violet  light.  Nerves  of  the  second  kind  are  much 
affected  by*green  light,  less  by  yellow  and  blue, 
still  less  by  red  and  violet.  The  third  kind  of 
nerves  answer  readily  to  violet  light,  and  are  suc- 
cessively less  affected  by  other  kinds  of  light  in 
the  following  order:  blue,  green,  yellow,  orange, 
red.  The  next  point  in  the  theory  is  that  if  all 
three  sets  of  nerves  are  simultaneously  stimulated 
to  about  the  same  degree  the  sensation  which  we 
call  white  will  be  produced.  This  result  would 
almost  lead  us  into  calling  white  a  color  —  and  the 
most  brilliant  one  of  all.  These  are  the  main 
points  of  Young's  theory,  which  was  published  as 
long  ago  as  1802,  and  more  fully  in  1807.  Atten- 
tion has  been  called  to  it  within  the  last  few  years 
by  Helmholtz,  and  it  is  mainly  owing  to  his  labors 
and  those  of  Maxwell  that  it  now  commands  such 
respectful  attention.  Thus  far  the  study  of  color- 
blindness has  furnished  evidence  in  favor  of  the 
theory  of  Young,  and  its  phenomena  are  more 
easily  explained  by  this  tlian  by  any  other  theory. 


II 


COLOR  THEORIES 


21 


A  recent  invention  by  Frederick  E.  Ives  of 
Philadelphia  has  also  been  cited  in  its  support. 
Through  the  use  of  what  he  calls  a  photo-chro- 
moscopic  camera  he  takes  through  three  color 
screens  —  a  red,  a  green,  and  a  blue  one  —  three 
negatives.  These  negatives,  placed  in  an  instru- 
ment called  by  him  a  stereo-photo-chromo-scope 
(which  resembles  a  stereoscope,  and  which  also  holds 
three  screens  of  the  same  colors),  produce  to  the 
eyes  an  image  so  perfect  in  color  and  relief  that 
people  have  been  seen  to  place  their  hand  in 
front  of  it  before  they  were  convinced  that  they 
did  not  see  a  direct  reflection."  Various  sets  of 
three  hues,  or  modified  hues,  might  be  used  to  pro- 
duce the  same  effect. 

In  1878,  having  re-investigated  the  subject  thor- 
oughly, Hering  published  in  Vienna  a  paper  advo- 
cating another  theory.  According  to  this  "  the 
retina  is  provided  with  three  visual  substances,  and 
the  fundamental  sensations  are  not  three,  but  six,  — 

Black  and  white. 

Red  and  green, 

Blue  and  yellow. 
Each  of  these  three  pairs  corresponds  to  an  as- 
similation or  diassimilation  process  in  one  of  the 
visual  substances ;  thus  red  light  acts  on  the  red- 
green  substance  in  exactly  the  opposite  way  from 
green  light,  and  when   both  kinds  of  light  are 


22 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


present  in  suitable  proportions  a  balance  is  effected, 
and  both  sensations,  red  and  green,  vanish."  ^ 

One  of  the  latest  accounts  of  these  theories  (of 
Young-Helmholtz  and  Hering),  written  in  English, 
is  to  be  found  in  Dr.  Foster's  Text-book  of  Physi- 
ology. It  contains  a  full  and  clear  discussion  of  the 
merits  and  demerits  of  both  theories  from  a  scien- 
tific standpoint.    From  it  we  give  the  accompany- 


X  g.  w. 


R  O         Y  G  B  V 


DIAGRAM  ILLUSTRATING  HERING'S  THEORY  OP  COLOR  SENSATION. 

ing  diagram  illustrating  Hering' s  theory  of  color 
vision. 

Edridge  Green  also  discusses  both  theories  fully 
in  connection  with  color-blindness. 

On  one  point  all  these  theories  agree,  which  is 
that  perfect  or  normal  color  vision  is  made  up  of 
three  factors,  or  as  Foster  says,  it  is  "  tri-chromie, 

^  Rood,  Modern  Chromatics. 


II 


COLOR  THEORIES 


23 


based  on  three  or  the  equivalent  of  three  primary 
sensations."  The  first,  the  Brewster  theory,  states 
that  they  are  red,  yellow,  and  blue  colors ;  the  sec- 
ond, the  Young-Helmholtz  theory,  that  there  are 
three  kinds  of  nerve  fibrils  in  the  retina,  affected 
respectively  by  red,  blue,  and  green,  and  their  com- 
binations of  the  spectrum ;  while  that  of  Hering 
is  that  in  the  eye  there  are  three  changeable  visual 
substances  which  are  increased  or  diminished  ac- 
cordingly as  the  rays  of  black  and  white,  yellow 
and  blue,  or  red  and  green,  fall  upon  them. 

Le  Conte,  in  his  work  Sight ^  says  of  the  latter 
part  of  this  theory,  "according  to  Hering,  com- 
plementary colors  are  the  result  of  opposite  affec- 
tions of  the  retina,  so  that  there  are  only  two 
essentially  distinct  color  affections  of  the  retina, 
which,  with  their  opposites,  produce  two  pairs  of 
complementary  colors  ;  the  one  with  its  opposite 
produces  red  and  green ;  the  other  with  its  opposite, 
yellow  and  blue.  This,  though  more  doubtful,  seems 
a  probable  cause  of  complementariness."  Also, 
"  Stanley  Hall  .  .  .  believes  that  color  is  per- 
ceived by  the  cones  (in  the  retina)  alone ;  further, 
that  different  parts  of  the  same  cone  vibrate  with 
different  degrees  of  rapidity,  and  therefore  respond 
to  different  colors,  and  the  conical  form  is  adapted 
for  this  purpose.  In  order  to  gain  a  clearer  con- 
ception we  may  imagine  each  cone  to  be  made  up 


24 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


of  a  number  of  buttons  of  graduated  sizes  joined 
together.  These  buttons,  on  account  of  their  dif- 
ferent sizes,  would  vibrate  with  different  degrees 
of  rapidity,  and  therefore  co-vibrate  with  different 
colors.  White  light,  he  supposes,  vibrates  the 
whole  series  ;  red  light  the  thicker,  and  violet  the 
thinner  portion  of  the  series ;  or,  taking  Bering's 
view  of  the  primary  colors,  we  may  imagine  that 
red  and  green  rays  affect  one  portion  and  yellow 
and  blue  rays  another  portion  of  the  same  cone." 

From  the  fact  that  in  1876  F.  Boll  discovered 
that  the  retina  contained  a  red  or  purple  substance 
that  quickly  disappeared  on  exposure  to  light, 
Kuhne  elaborated,  after  further  experiments  with 
light  upon  that  substance,  a  still  later  theory  of 
color  vision  which  supposes  that  the  light  waves 
produce  in  the  retina  different  compounds  that  give 
rise  to  the  sensation  of  the  different  colors. 

Mrs.  Franklin  of  Baltimore  has  lately  given  us 
a  theory  of  light  sensation,"  as  she  prefers  to  call 
it,  which  has  been  favorably  received.^  The  ques- 
tion of  the  specific  uses  of  the  rods  and  cones  in 
the  retina  has  been  a  puzzling  one,  and  she  sug- 
gests that  they  may  be  of  the  same  nature,  but  in 
different  stages  of  development,  — in  other  words, 
that  the  rods  are  undeveloped  cones.  As  there 
are  more  cones  than  rods  in  the  middle  of  the 

i"Miad,"  U.S.,  Vol.  II.  1893. 


II 


COLOR  THEORIES 


25 


retina,  and  as  color  is  seen  more  vividly  there,  the 
inference  is  that  the  cones  are  susceptible  to  both 
light  and  color,  while  the  rods  are  only  sensitive 
to  light.  Such  a  theory  seems  to  explain  the  re- 
sults of  many  experiments  heretofore  made  by 
scientists.  Some  discussion  of  the  subtile  and 
beautiful  colors  produced  by  interference,  refrac- 
tion, absorption,  and  polarization,  as  well  as  by 
opalescence,  fluorescence,  and  phosphorescence, 
might  aptly  follow  here,  but  that  such  discussion 
hardly  comes  within  the  scope  of  this  mainly 
practical  book.  Readers  who  wish  to  understand 
and  experiment  with  them  are  referred  to  the 
works  of  Rood,  Church,  and  Dove. 


CHAPTER  III 


COLOR  QUALITIES 


HUE,  PURITY,  LUMINOSITY  —  COLD  AND  WARM  COLORS 
 TINTS,  SHADES,  BROKEN  TINTS 

/^OLORS  have  three  principal  qualities,  called 


should  be  studied  as  a  preparation  for  the  study  of 
the  harmony  of  colors.  These  qualities  are  hue, 
purity,  and  luminosity.  To  make  these  as  clear  as 
possible,  we  will  for  the  present,  at  least,  ignore 
the  delicate  divisions  of  the  spectrum  made  by 
both  scientists  and  artists  of  which  about  one 
thousand  have  been  counted,  and  divide  it  arbi- 
trarily into  six  pure  spectral  colors  differing  from 
each  other  by  their  hues  as  by  their  wave 
lengths  ;  the  wave  lengths  we  give  according  to 
Rood,  expressed  in  ten-millionths  of  a  millimetre 
(lo^oVooo)-  (See  Plate  III.)  These  six  divisions 
can  be  placed  beside  and  compared  with  flowers 
and  colored  materials,  and  are  printed  to  imitate 
colored  light  as  nearly  as  pigments  and  paper 
can  give  them.  At  best,  any  such  imitation 
falls  far  short  of  nature. 

The  first  quality  or  constant  of  colors  is  hue, 

26 


constants   of    color,"  which 


CH.  Ill 


COLOR  QUALITIES 


27 


this  term  being  generally  agreed  upon  by  scientists 
to  mean  color  pure  and  simple,  according  to  its 
wave  length  in  the  spectrum.  Plate  III  gives  us 
six  hues  —  violet,  blue,  green,  yellow,  orange,  and 
red.  Each  of  these  is  quite  different  from  the  next 
one,  as  the  violet  hue  is  from  the  blue  hue,  the  blue 
hue  from  the  green  hue. 

The  second  quality  or  constant  of  colors  is  purity ^ 
that  is,  its  lack  of  any  mixture  of  white,  black, 
or  any  other  color.  These  not  only  weaken  the 
color  but  change  its  character,  as  will  be  found 
by  mixing  white  paint  with  vermilion  paint,  which 
will  be  seen  to  grow  more  pink,  as  well  as  lighter, 
as  the  white  is  added. 

The  third  quality  or  constant  of  colors  is  their 
luminosity  or  brightness,  also  sometimes  called 
clearness.  It  is  measured  by  the  total  amount  of 
light  reflected  to  the  eye,  and  is  therefore  inde- 
pendent of  hue  and  purity.  The  amount  of  lumi- 
nosity of  a  color  can  be  determined  correctly  by 
means  of  an  invention  called  Maxwell's  Disks. 
These  disks  date  back  to  the  time  of  Ptolemy,  but 
were  brought  into  use  early  in  this  century  by 
Maxwell.  A  disk,  or  round  piece  of  cardboard, 
painted  with  the  color  to  be  tested,  is  put  behind 
two  smaller  disks,  one  of  white  and  one  of  black, 
which  can  be  so  adjusted  that  on  turning  them  all 
rapidly  the  gray  formed  by  the  mingling  of  black 


28 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


and  white  matches  in  luminosity  the  one  back 
of  it. 

From  such  experiments  we  see  that  a  room 
papered  or  painted  in  yellow  will  give  you  the 
lightest  room,  because  it  will  reflect  more  light  to 
the  eye  than  any  of  the  other  colors ;  one  done  in 
orange  will  come  next,  and  so  on  through  the  list. 
A  practical  knowledge  of  these  different  luminosi- 
ties is  most  useful  in  decoration,  both  on  account 
of  the  contrast  between  colors  for  this  reason  as 
well  as  for  their  hues.  Also  for  the  ability  to 
lighten  a  dark  part  of  a  room  by  placing  there  a 
piece  of  luminous  coloring,  and  vice  versa  to  darken 
what  is  too  bright.  We  must  here  add  that  these 
terms,  purity  of  color  and  luminosity,  are  used  by 
artists  in  quite  a  different  sense,  as  they  call  paint- 
ings noticeable  for  purity  of  color,  meaning  only 
that  the  tints  in  them  have  no  tendency  to  look  dull 
or  dirty,  but  not  at  all  implying  the  absence  of 
white  or  gray  light.  They  call  color  in  a  painting 
luminous  simply  because  it  actually  recalls  to  the 
mind  the  impression  of  light,  not  because  it  ac- 
tually reflects  much  light  to  the  eye.  Plate  No.  IV 
gives  the  six  spectral  colors  in  their  order  of 
luminosity. 

We  will  now  take  up  in  turn  each  of  the  six 
hues  by  itself  and  study  it  in  its  variations  towards 
its  neighboring  hues. 


Ill 


COLOR  QUALITIES 


29 


That  we  do  not  appreciate  the  influence  of  color 
upon  man  as  well  as  upon  the  lower  animals,  is 
true ;  but  color  has  not  been  studied  by  us  as  it 
probably  will  be  in  the  near  future.  The  powers 
of  attraction  of  different  colors  for  ants  and  bees 
have  occupied  the  time  and  close  observation  of 
Sir  John  Lubbock  and  of  many  other  scientists, 
and  now  the  effect  of  different  colors  is  being 
tried  on  the  children  in  some  schools  and  on  the 
patients  in  certain  insane  asylums.  A  few  facts 
are  enough  to  show  that  there  is  still  much  to 
learn  in  that  direction,  and  that  these  questions 
can  be  investigated  with  profit.  One  of  these 
facts  is  that  a  certain  shade  of  purple  always  pro- 
duced the  condition  of  the  skin  commonly  known 
as  "  goose-flesh  "  upon  a  girl  in  a  normal  condition 
of  health. 

Goethe  in  his  Tlieory  of  Colour,  as  translated 
by  Sir  Charles  Eastlake,  records  observations  and 
experiments  of  the  most  minute  character  with 
regard  to  light  and  colors  —  of  a  character  hardly 
touched  upon  by  others.  His  suggestion  of  using 
colored  glass  for  study  in  colors  is  very  valuable. 
He  says,  "  People  experience  a  great  delight  in 
color  generally.  The  eye  requires  it  as  much  as  it 
requires  light.  We  have  only  to  remember  the 
refreshing  sensation  we  experience,  if  on  a  cloudy 
day  the  sun  illumines  a  single  portion  of  the 


30 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


scene  before  us  and  displays  its  colors.  That 
healing  powers  were  ascribed  to  colored  gems 
may  have  arisen  from  the  experience  of  this  inde- 
finable pleasure. 

From  some  of  our  earlier  observations  we  can 
conclude  that  general  impressions  produced  by 
single  colors  cannot  be  changed,  that  they  act 
specifically  and  must  produce  definite  specific 
states  in  the  living  organ. 

"  They  likewise  produce  a  corresponding  influence 
on  the  mind.  Experience  teaches  us  that  particu- 
lar colors  excite  particular  states  of  feeling.  It  is 
related  of  a  witty  Frenchman,  "  II  pretendoit  que 
son  ton  -de  conversation  avec  Madame  etoit  change 
d'epuis  qu'elle  avait  change  en  cramoisi  le  meuble 
de  son  cabinet,  qui  etoit  bleu."  (He  imagined  that 
the  tone  of  his  conversation  with  Madame  was 
changed  since  she  had  changed  the  coloring  of  her 
sitting-room  from  blue  to  crimson.) 

''In  order  to  experience  these  influences  com- 
pletely, the  eye  should  be  entirely  surrounded  with 
one  color ;  we  should  be  in  a  room  of  one  color,  or 
look  through  a  colored  glass.  We  are  then  identi- 
fied with  the  hue,  it  attunes  the  eye  and  mind  in 
mere  unison  with  itself.^ 

The  colors  on  the  'plus  side  are  yellow,  red-yel- 

^  The  use  of  this  suggestion  as  to  colored  glass  is  strongly  urged  by  the 
author,  as  it  is  a  capital  way  of  seeing  how  the  world  would  look  were  evei-y- 
thing  in  it  blue,  or  any  other  color. 


Ill 


COLOR  QUALITIES 


31 


low  and  yellow-red.  The  feelings  they  excite  are 
quick,  lively,  and  aspiring. 

"  The  colors  on  the  minus  side  are  blue,  red-blue 
and  blue-red.  They  produce  a  restless,  susceptible, 
anxious  impression." 

Each  of  these  six  hues  can  be  divided  roughly 
into  three,  as  they  are  pure  or  tend  toward  their 
neighboring  hues.  So  violet,  of  which  we  have 
pure  normal  or  spectral  violet,  with  red-violet  on 
one  hand,  blue-violet  on  the  other  ;  or  yellow,  of 
which  we  have  pure  normal  or  spectral  yellow,  with 
orange-yellow  on  one  side,  green-yellow  on  the  other. 

Violet  is  a  cold  color,  red-violet  warmer  than 
blue-violet.  It  is  grave,  dignified,  as  compared 
with  the  other  colors.  Being  a  retiring  color,  it 
will  serve  well  as  a  background,  as  it  will  throw 
forward  any  more  luminous  color  put  upon  it.  In 
flowers  we  have  examples  of  this  color  in  its  va- 
riety in  violets,  lilacs,  asters,  sweet  peas,  and  morn- 
ing-glories. In  the  latter  it  is  exquisitely  shaded 
from  one  extreme  to  the  other.  The  wild  Eupato- 
rium  furnishes  a  fine  example  of  red-violet,  the 
cultivated  variety  an  equally  good  one  of  the  blue- 
violet,  almost  cold  enough  for  a  blue.  There  is  no 
sound  pigment  which  can  be  used  alone  to  paint 
this  color.  The  violet  in  the  originals  for  these 
plates  was  made  with  French  blue  and  crimson 
lake,  and  crimson  lake  is  not  considered  a  perma- 


32 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


nent  color.  Violet  of  all  kinds  suffers  from  artifi- 
cial light,  losing  much  of  its  blue,  and  becoming 
more  red  and  dull. 

Blue  is  a  cold  color,  and  a  retiring  one,  espe- 
cially suited  for  backgrounds,  as  one  will  notice  in 
studying  a  blue  sky,  against  which  the  landscape 
stands  out  with  great  beauty.  In  flowers,  ex- 
amples of  this  color  are  more  rare  than  of  others. 
The  blue  gentian  is  not  a  true  blue,  it  is  so  close 
on  blue-violet.  Forget-me-nots,  chicory,  centaureas, 
and  larkspur  give  us  blue  in  differing  varieties. 
The  sky  from  the  deep  violet  blue  of  a  winter's 
night  to  the  pale,  greenish  tones  near  the  horizon 
on  a  summer's  day  shows  us  an  unsurpassed  scale 
of  this  hue. 

Goethe  says  of  it,  "  It  may  be  said  that  blue 
brings  a  principle  of  darkness  with  it. 

This  color  has  a  peculiar  and  almost  indescrib- 
able effect  on  the  eye.  As  a  hue  it  is  powerful, 
but  it  is  on  the  negative  side,  and  in  its  highest 
purity  is,  as  it  were,  a  stimulating  negation. 
Its  appearance,  then,  is  a  kind  of  contradiction  be- 
tween excitement  and  repose. 

"  As  the  upper  sky  and  distant  mountains  appear 
blue,  so  a  blue  surface  seems  to  retire  from  us. 

"  But  as  we  readily  follow  an  agreeable  object 
that  flies  from  us,  so  we  love  to  contemplate  blue, 
not  because  it  advances  to  us,  but  because  it  draws 
us  after  it. 


m 


COLOR  QUALITIES 


38 


"  Blue  gives  us  an  impression  of  cold,  and  thus 
again  reminds  us  of  shade.  We  have  before 
spoken  of  its  affinity  with  black. 

Rooms  which  are  hung  with  pure  blue  appear 
in  some  degree  larger,  but  at  the  same  time  empty 
and  cold. 

"  The  appearance  of  objects  seen  through  a  blue 
glass  is  gloomy  and  melancholy. 

"  When  blue  partakes  in  some  measure  of  the 
2Jlus  side  the  effect  is  not  disagreeable  ;  sea-green 
is  rather  a  pleasing  color." 

Genuine  ultramarine  is  an  expensive  but  very 
pure  blue  paint  made  from  lapis-lazuli.  Artificial 
ultramarine  generally  inclines  towards  violet.  A 
good  deal  of  green  and  violet  light  is  reflected  from 
cobalt  blue.  There  is  some  green  in  Prussian  blue, 
in  indigo,  and  in  cerulean  blue.  Prussian  blue,  if 
used  quite  thickly,  reflects  some  red.  The  blue  for 
the  original  of  Plate  X  was  made  of  French 
blue  (artificial  ultramarine),  tinged  on  the  violet 
end  with  crimson  lake,  and  on  the  greenish  end 
with  emerald  green,  which  latter  is  not  a  perma- 
nent color,  but  which  approaches  nearest  of  any 
pigment  to  the  green  hue  in  the  spectrum.  Blue 
is  one  of  the  colors  most  used  in  decoration. 

Green  may  be  cold  or  warm,  retiring  or  advanc- 
ing according  as  it  approaches  blue  or  yellow, 
although  pure  spectral  green  is  of  a  cold  nature. 


34 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


When  one  studies  the  great  scale  of  greens  as  seen 
in  a  landscape  lit  up  with  full  sunshine,  and 
notices  the  intense  yellow  green  where  the  sun 
shines  through  the  leaves,  the  pale  gray  greens 
produced  by  the  sun's  glancing  over  the  polished 
surfaces  of  others,  and  the  rich  dark  green  in  the 
shadows,  it  seems  as  if  no  other  color  would  admit 
of  so  varied  a  scale  or  be  more  restful  to  the  eye. 

Goethe  says  :  "  The  eye  experiences  a  distinctly 
grateful  impression  from  this  color.  The  beholder 
has  neither  a  wish  nor  the  power  to  imagine  a 
state  beyond  it.  Hence  for  rooms  to  live  in  con- 
stantly, the  green  color  is  most  generally  selected." 
This  assertion  may  be  doubted,  many  persons 
objecting  to  green,  tlie  truth  probably  being  that 
it  has  been  found  difficult  to  use,  and  not  having 
been  understood  or  well  treated  has  not  been  appre- 
ciated. Its  healthfulness  cannot  be  doubted  if  one 
considers  how  refreshing  the  surroundings  of  trees 
and  grass  are  to  an  invalid  who  has  been  surrounded 
by  city  bricks  and  stones.  Can  we  not  derive  a  like 
benefit  from  this  color  by  decorating  our  city  rooms 
with  varying  tones  of  soft  gray  greens,  like  nature, 
relieved  here  and  there  with  a  touch  of  brightness, 
as  flowers,  birds,  and  butterflies  gleam  amid  the  foli- 
age in  their  native  haunts  ?  The  rules  for  height- 
ening these  contrasts  with  certain  varieties  of  green 
will  be  given  in  the  chapter  on  contrasts.  The 


ni 


COLOR  QUALITIES 


35 


extremes  of  green  blend  better  than  those  of  other 
colors.  Emerald  green  has  been  used  as  being 
the  best  paint  with  which  to  imitate  the  normal 
green  of  the  spectrum,  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  it  is  a  trifle  bluer  than  it  should  be  to  be  exact. 

Of  yellow  Goethe  writes,  This  is  the  color 
nearest  the  light. 

"  In  its  highest  purity  it  always  carries  with  it 
the  nature  of  brightness,  and  has  a  serene,  gay, 
softly  exciting  character. 

"  In  this  state  applied  to  dress,  hangings,  carpets, 
etc.,  it  is  agreeable.  Gold  in  its  perfectly  un- 
mixed state,  especially  when  the  effect  of  polish  is 
superadded,  gives  us  a  new  and  high  idea  of  this 
color  ;  in  like  manner,  a  strong  yellow,  as  it  ap- 
pears on  satin,  has  a  magnificent  and  noble  effect. 

"  We  find  from  experience  again  that  yellow  ex- 
cites a  warm  and  agreeable  impression.  Hence  in 
painting  it  belongs  to  the  illumined  and  emphatic 
side. 

"  This  impression  of  warmth  may  be  experienced 
in  a  very  lively  manner  if  we  look  at  a  landscape 
through  a  yellow  glass,  particularly  on  a  gray  win- 
ter's day.  The  eye  is  gladdened,  the  heart  ex- 
panded and  cheered,  a  glow  seems  at  once  to  breathe 
towards  us." 

Yellow  is  both  a  warm  and  an  advancing  color, 
especially  useful  to  apply  as  ornament  on  other 


36 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


colors,  as  gold  embroidery  is  beautiful  on  any 
color.  With-  the  exception  of  white  there  are 
more  yellow  flowers  than  of  any  other  color.  In 
Moorish  decorations,  which  are  some  of  the  finest 
in  the  world,  gold  is  used  as  ornament  on  blue  and 
red  grounds ;  in  fact,  throughout  the  history  of 
ornament,  yellow  is  more  often  used  in  that  way  • 
than  as  a  groundwork. 

A  thin  wash  of  Aurora  yellow  gave  the  color  for 
the  original  of  Plate  XII.  This  paint,  when  put 
on  thickly,  tends  too  much  toward  orange  to  imi- 
tate well  the  very  narrow  band  of  yellow  in  the 
spectrum.  It  is  made  from  cadmium,  and,  accord- 
ing to  Church,^  the  deep  or  orange  cadmiums  are  all 
more  lasting  than  the  pale  or  lemon-colored  kinds. 

Orange  is  still  a  warmer  color  than  yellow,  and 
is  also  an  advancing  color.  Goethe  says,  All  that 
we  have  said  of  yellow  is  applicable  here  in  a 
higher  degree.  The  red-yellow  (orange)  gives  an 
impression  of  warmth  and  gladness,  since  it  repre- 
sents the  hue  of  the  intenser  glow  of  fire,  and  of 
the  milder  radiance  of  the  setting  sun."  Orange  is 
perhaps  the  most  intense  color  and  should  be  used 
sparingly  in  decoration,  as  it  needs  great  care  as  to 
the  quality  and  quantity  of  other  colors  to  balance 
it.  Orange  cadmium  was  used  for  the  original  of 
Plate  XI. 

^  The  Chemistry  of  Paints  and  Painting. 


in 


COLOR  QUALITIES 


37 


Red  is  a  warm  color  and  an  advancing  one. 
Goethe  says,  "  The  agreeable,  cheerful  sensation 
which  red-yellow  excites  increases  to  an  intoler- 
ably powerful  impression  in  bright  yellow-red. 

"  The  active  side  is  here  in  its  highest  energy,  and 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  impetuous,  robust, 
uneducated  men  should  be  especially  pleased  with 
this  color.  Among  savage  nations  the  inclination 
for  it  has  been  universallv  remarked,  and  when 
children  left  to  themselves  begin  to  use  tints 
(paints),  they  never  spare  vermilion  and  minium. 

In  looking  steadfastly  at  a  perfectly  yellow-red 
surface,  the  color  seems  actually  to  penetrate  the 
organ.  It  produces  an  extreme  excitement,  and 
still  acts  thus  when  somewhat  darkened.  A  yellow- 
red  (scarlet)  cloth  disturbs  and  enrages  animals. 
I  have  known  men  of  education  to  whom  its  effect 
was  intolerable  if  they  chanced  to  see  a  person 
dressed  in  a  scarlet  cloak  on  a  gray,  cloudy  day." 
In  nature  we  have  red  only  in  small  portions,  a 
few  red  birds  or  those  with  throats  or  spots  of  red  ; 
almost  no  butterflies,  but  many  flowers.  The  rose, 
which  leads  in  beauty  the  long  procession  of  flowers, 
contains  an  immense  scale  of  this  color  on  the  violet 
side,  from  the  palest  blush  to  the  deepest  crimson, 
almost  purple.  There  being  less  of  red  in  nature 
than  of  any  other  color,  it  becomes  by  contrast  the 
decorative  color.    It  has  also  the  quality  of  chang- 


38 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


ing  less  witli  lessening  light  than  any  other  color, 
and  is  particularly  fine  in  combination  with  blue. 
Vermilion  and  carmine  were  used  to  make  the 
spectral  red  of  Plate  XIV,  though  they  are  far  from 
reproducing  the  vivid  quality  of  the  original.  Ver- 
milion used  with  oil  is  much  more  permanent 
than  with  water.  Of  the  lakes,  Church  says  in  his 
Chemistry  of  Paints  and  Painting :  "  No  artist 
who  cares  for  his  work,  and  hopes  for  its  per- 
manency, should  ever  employ  them." 

There  is  another  quality  shown  in  Plate  III  by 
which  colors  may  be  divided  into  the  warm  and 
cold  classes.  The  six  spectral  colors  we  have  so  far 
been  studying  in  this  chapter  may  be  roughly 
divided  as  follows  : 


COLD.  WARM. 

Violet  Yellow 
Blue  Orange 
Green  Red 

although  some  varieties  of  green  may  be  classed 
among  the  cold  colors  because  of  the  large  amount 
of  blue  they  seem  to  contain,  and  others  may  be 
classed  among  the  warm  ones  from  their  seeming 
to  contain  so  large  an  amount  of  yellow. 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  cold  colors  seem  to 
retire  or  go  back  from  the  eye,  while  the  warm 
ones  seem  to  come  forward,  and  that  the  right  use 


Ill 


COLOR  QUALITIES 


39 


of  these  qualities  greatly  affects  architecture  and 
decoration.    (See  Plates  V  and  YI.) 

To  recapitulate,  we  have  first,  three  qualities  or 
constants  of  colors:  hue,  purity,  luminosity;  then 
the  qualities  of  being  warm  or  cold.  Following 
upon  these  are  divisions  of  the  tones  into  three 
other  groups  or  scales  of  tints,  shades,  and  gray 
or  broken  tints. 

These  scales  have  been  confined  to  six  for  the 
sake  of  simplicity,  but  the  reader  may  multiply 
them  infinitely  to  correspond  with  the  infinite  gra- 
dations in  nature. 

1.  Tints.  —  "The  reduced  scale  —  that  is,  the 
normal  hue  mixed  with  progressive  increments  (ad- 
ditions) of  white,  thus  forming  tints T  The  spectral 
hue  of  the  color  weakened  by  white.    Plate  VII. 

2.  Shades.  —  "The  darkened  scale — that  is, 
the  normal  hue  mixed  with  progressive  increments 
(additions)  of  black,  thus  forming  shades^  The 
spectral  hue  of  the  color  darkened  with  black. 
Plate  YIII. 

3.  "The  dulled  scale —  that  is,  the  normal  hue 
mixed  with  progressive  increments  of  gray,  thus 
forming  broken  tints  commonly  called  grays." 
The  spectral  hue  of  the  color  changed  by  black  and 
white.  Besides  these  regular  scales  which  can  be 
approximately  rendered  in  paint  or  colored  inks 
there  is  an  infinite  variety  of  what  we  might  call 


40 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


irregular  scales  which  can  never  be  given  save  in 
nature.  They  are  those  in  which  a  color  is  changed 
or  neutralized  by  one  or  more  of  the  other  colors. 
These  cannot  even  be  named,  for  their  multitude. 

With  the  aid  of  a  color  wheel  on  which  he  used 
disks  of  black,  wdiite,  and  the  six  prismatic  colors, 
Professor  Eood  has  drawn  up  and  formulated  the 
proportions  of  488  of  these  compound  or  neutral- 
ized colors.  With  the  formulae  a  number  of  them 
have  been  printed  in  color  quite  successfully.  It 
is  probably  the  first  attempt  to  establish  standard 
colors,  and  a  most  valuable  one,  which  it  is  hoped 
may  bear  fruit.  If  those  and  the  arbitrary  terms 
for  colors  and  their  different  states  could  come 
into  general  use  it  would  greatly  help  all  descrip- 
tions of  color  harmonies. 

Having  become  familiar  with  the  six  colors,  we 
now  arrive  at  the  object  for  which  we  have  gone 
through  the  previous  study ;  namely,  the  first 
kind  of  color  harmony^  one-color  combinations,  also 
called  combinations  of  self-tones,  the  simplest 
and  the  preliminary  harmony  to  that  of  combined 
colors.  The  first  rule  to  be  observed  in  making 
one-color  combinations  is  to  avoid  putting  together 
what  we  may  call,  borrowing  the  term  from  the 
language  of  music,  the  large  intervals,  or  extremes, 
of  a  color  in  their  pure  spectral  hues.  For  ex- 
ample, in  arranging  a  basket  of  flowers,  never  put 


ni 


COLOR  QUALITIES 


41 


those  of  a  crimson  or  violet-red,  such  as  an  Ameri- 
can Beauty  rose,  next  to  a  scarlet  or  orange-reel 
flower,  such  as  a  scarlet  geranium.  These  are  too 
unlike  each  other,  being  at  the  large  intervals  of 
the  hue.  They  injure  each  other  and  are  therefore 
disagreeable. 

As  a  second  rule,  all  colors,  even  those  above- 
named,  may  be  combined  in  one  harmony,  but 
this  harmony  must  be  produced  from  the  fact  that 
tints,  or  shades,  or  both  combined,  are  used,  rather 
than  the  simple  spectral  hues.  In  fact,  nature 
uses  pure  colors  most  sparingly  ;  they  appear,  if 
you  will  remember,  in  small  bright  spots  in  jewels, 
in  somew^hat  larger  quantities  in  flowers  and  fruit, 
in  the  wings  of  butterflies  and  the  plumage  of 
birds,  to  relieve  and  ornament  the  more  subdued 
great  masses  of  neutral  greens  and  grays  that 
make  up  the  ordinary  garb  of  nature. 

But  to  return  to  the  combinations  of  larger  in- 
tervals of  color  we  were  considering.  For  instance, 
while  scarlet  (orange-red)  and  crimson  (violet- 
red)  do  not  combine  well,  at  a  French  sea-shore 
resort  was  seen  the  combination  of  a  pink  (that 
is,  a  tint  of  violet-red)  dress,  shaded  by  a  brilliant 
scarlet  (orange-red)  parasol  carried  by  its  wearer. 
It  was  as  daring  a  combination  as  could  be  made ; 
its  success  was  complete  owing  to  the  pale  tint  of 
the  dress  and  the  correspondingly  correct  hue  of 


42 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


the  scarlet  of  the  parasol.  The  effect  was  helped 
and  complemented  by  the  large  mass  of  the  sea  as 
background.  No  rule  can  prescribe  these  tints  or 
shades  exactly,  a  gifted  eye  only  can  combine  them 
with  success  ;  but  the  fact  might  serve  as  a  hint 
to  those  who  find  by  examination  and  experiment 
that  they  have  such  an  eye. 

Besides  the  use  of  tints  and  shades  to  help  us  in 
combining  what  would  otherwise  be  inharmonious 
color,  gradation  is  another  means  we  can  employ 
to  serve  our  purpose.  For  instance,  considering 
different  blues,  which  are  not  agreeable  together, 
we  will  look  at  a  cloudless  sky ;  we  find  that 
above  us  it  may  be  of  a  deep  blue  verging  on 
violet  blue,  while,  as  we  let  the  eye  follow  it 
down  through  the  infinite  and  exquisite  gradations 
it  contains,  near  the  horizon  we  come  gently 
upon  our  other  blue,  the  greenish  one,  and  feel  no 
discord.  The  rainbow,  which  is,  in  fact,  a  kind  of 
spectrum,  is  the  best  possible  example  of  the  great 
use  of  gradation  ;  there  we  have  all  the  pure  colors, 
one  differing  immensely  from  the  other,  but  the 
gradations  between  them  are  so  fine  and  complete 
as  to  prevent  the  least  discord.  In  opals  and  pearl 
shells,  in  peacock's  feathers  and  soap  bubbles, 
such  coloring  is  also  seen  enhanced  by  being 
broken  by  soft  grays  and  greens.  It  is  caused  by 
what  is  scientifically  called  interference  ;  that  is, 


Ill 


COLOR  QUALITIES 


43 


the  thin  layers  of  the  material  interfere  or  break 
up  the  waves  of  light  and  so  produce  the  color. 

Reflection  in  colored  materials  can  be  used  to 
help  greatly  in  harmonizing  them.  Look  at  a 
piece  of  red  sealing-wax.  Hold  it  up  by  a  window 
and  the  high  gloss  on  it  will  reflect  so  much  light 
as  to  make  the  side  toward  the  light  appear  almost 
white.  On  another  side  the  true  or  local  color,  the 
brilliant  red,  will  be  seen,  and  the  side  in  shadow 
will  be  of  another  color  still,  darker  and  more 
crimson  or  violet-red.  Red  satin  will  have  the 
same  varieties  in  its  high  lights,  middle,  and  shaded 
parts,  and  these  whiter  lights  and  shaded  parts 
really  gray  and  subdue  the  color  of  the  material.  A 
woollen  cloth  of  the  same  color  which  has  less  power 
of  reflection  will  therefore  have  less  of  the  gray 
about  it.  With  practice,  fine  and  beautiful  one- 
color  combinations,  greatly  varied,  can  be  made 
by  using  materials  of  different  textures  but  of  the 
same  color. 

What  has  been  said  so  far  of  colors  applies  to 
them  as  seen  in  ordinary  daylight,  but  we  must 
also  know  how  they  are  affected  by  lessened,  in- 
creased, and  artificial  light.  Rood  made  many 
elaborate  experiments  in  this  direction,  too  numer- 
ous to  be  given  here.  With  these  in  view.  Church 
gives  the  following  table  of  the  main  changes  that 
occur  in  colored  objects  from  the  changing  of  the 
light  in  which  they  are  commonly  seen : 


44 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


If  Light  Increase, — 


Diminish. 


Red  becomes  Scarlet  . 

Scarlet  Orange  . 

Orange  "  Yellow  . 

Yellow  "  Paler  . 


Red. 

Brown. 

Olive-green. 


Purplish. 


Yellow-green  "  Yellower 
Blue-green  ^'  More  blue 

Art'f .  ultramarine  becomes  Blue 


More  violet. 
Purple. 
More  violet. 


Greener. 
Greener. 


Violet  "       More  blue 


Purple  "  Redder 


We  must  also  note  the  effect  produced  by  double 
light ;  as,  for  instance,  at  sunset  when  we  find  in 
one  direction  the  cool  light  from  the  blue  of  the 
sky,  in  another  the  warm  light  from  the  setting  sun. 
.  This  is  more  complicated  and  difficult  to  understand. 

Eeflections  from  near  objects  produce  similar 
effects ;  as,  for  instance,  in  the  city,  the  light 
reflected  from  a  red  brick  wall  and  that  from  a 
blue  sky.  An  artist  painted  a  portrait  in  which 
the  likeness  was  spoiled  by  the  unnatural  amount 
of  red  in  the  complexion.  On  examination  it  was 
found  to  have  been  put  there  rightly,  inasmuch  as 
the  artist  certainly  saw  it  ;  the  error  lay  in  choos- 
ing a  place  for  the  subject  where  the  red  reflection 
from  a  brick  wall  was  thrown  on  his  face.  In  a 
room,  a  yellow  wall  paper  and  a  curtain  of  some 
other  color  may  throw  combined  and  confusing 
though  perhaps  at  the  same  time  most  interesting 
reflections  on  some  object.  The  combined  effects 
of  daylight  and  gas  or  lamp  light  are  similar. 


in 


COLOR  QUALITIES 


45 


We  will  next  consider  the  effect  npon  colored 
objects  of  a  light,  itself  colored,  —  of  what  is  called 
a  dominant  light.  (See  Plate  VI,  with  instruc- 
tions.) 

Chevreul  made  many  experiments  with  these. 
Church  gives  them  to  us,  with  modifications,  in  the 
following  concise  form  : 


Eed  rays  falling  on  white  make  it  appear  red. 


c 

a 

ii 

red 

ii 

ii 

deeper  red. 

ii 

a 

ii 

orange 

redder. 

(( 

li 

ii 

yellow 

ii 

ii 

orange. 

(( 

green 

11  '1 

yellowisn-gray. 

blue 

•  1  „  J. 
violet. 

a 

violet 

purple. 

(( 

a 

11  1 
black 

rusty  black. 

Orange 

a 

white 

orange. 

C( 

a 

ii 

red 

ii 

a 

reddish-orange. 

(( 

iC 

orange 

deeper  orange. 

(( 

ii 

ii 

yellow 

a 

a 

orange-yellow. 

u 

ii 

ii 

green 

ii 

ii 

dark  yellow-green. 

ii 

i( 

blue 

ii 

ii 

dark  reddish-gray. 

(( 

ii 

ii 

violet 

a 

ii 

dark  purplish-gray. 

u 

ii 

ii 

black 

a 

a 

brownish-black. 

Yellow 

ii 

i  i 

white 

a 

ii 

yellow. 

ii 

ii 

red 

a 

a 

orange-brown. 

ii 

ii 

ii 

orange 

ii 

a 

orange-yellow. 

a 

ii 

ii 

yellow 

a 

ii 

deeper  yellow. 

a 

ii 

ii 

green 

ii 

a 

yellowis  h-gr  ee  n . 

a 

ii 

ii 

blue 

a 

a 

slaty-gray. 

a 

ii 

ii 

violet 

ii 

ii 

purplish-gray. 

a 

ii 

ii 

black 

u 

a 

olive-black. 

Green 

ii 

i< 

white 

a 

ii 

green. 

46 

COLOR 

PROBLEMS 

CH. 

Green  rays  falling 

on  red  make  it  appear  yellowish-brown. 

a 

"  orange 

U  iC 

grayish-leaf -green. 

(( 

a 

yellow 

ii  il 

yellowish-green. 

iC 

a 

green 

ii    '  ii 

deeper  green. 

(( 

(( 

"  blue 

u  u 

bluish-green. 

u 

(( 

"  violet 

;  i  ii 

bluish-gray. 

a 

(( 

"  black 

ii  ii 

dark  greenish-gray. 

Blue 

a 

"  white 

ii  ii 

blue. 

i( 

a 

"  red 

ii  ii 

purple. 

i( 

(( 

"  orange 

ii  ii 

plum-brown. 

i( 

(C 

"  yellow 

ii  ii 

yellowish-gray. 

(( 

a 

green 

ii  ii 

bluish-green. 

(( 

(( 

blue 

ii  ii 

deeper  blue. 

i( 

iC 

"  violet 

ii  ii 

bluer. 

(( 

u 

"  black 

ii  ii 

bluish-black. 

Violet 

a 

"  white 

ii  ii 

violet. 

u 

a 

"  red 

ii  ii 

purple. 

ii 

i( 

"  orange 

ii  ii 

reddish-gray. 

u 

(( 

"  yellow 

ii  ii 

purplish-gray. 

(( 

a 

"  green 

ii  ii 

bluish-gray. 

(( 

a 

"  blue 

a  ii 

bluish-violet. 

ii 

a 

"  violet 

deeper  violet. 

i: 

a 

"  black 

ii  ii 

violet-black. 

In  this  table  the  effect  of  yellow  light  gives  us 
the  effect  of  gas  or  lamp  light  on  colors,  as  they 
are  yellow  in  character.  To  make  his  experiments 
with  artificial  light  as  sure  as  possible,  Rood,  or 
Chevreul,  in  daylight,  threw  the  light  from  a  gas 
burner  on  colors  set  in  a  camera  so  as  to  judge  at 
the  same  time  of  the  effects  of  the  two  kinds  of 
light,  for  we  must  remember  that  commonly  when 
we  see  colors  by  gas  or  lamp  light  we  are  so  sur- 


Ill 


COLOR  QUALITIES 


47 


rounded  ourselves  by  the  same  yellow  light  that 
everything  is  tinged  by  it,  and  our  judgment 
is  affected ;  all  we  ,see  being  yellower,  yellow 
objects  will  look  less  yellow  for  want  of  the  con- 
trast seen  in  daylight.  This  effect  is  now  under- 
stood and  provided  for  by  dry  goods  merchants, 
who  have  for  some  time  shown  materials  for 
evening  dresses  in  rooms  lighted  by  gas.  A  fairly 
good  idea  of  the  appearance  which  pictures,  col- 
ored materials,  articles  of  dress  and  decoration  will 
make  by  gas  or  lamp  light  can  be  had  by  looking 
at  them  through  a  piece  of  pale  orange-yellow 
glass. 

Electric  and  calcium  lights,  being  much  whiter 
than  that  of  gas  or  oil,  make  less  difference  in 
colors,  but  their  intensity  being  different  from 
that  of  ordinary  diffused  daylight,  it  produces  dif- 
ferent and  more  intense  effects. 


CHAPTER  lY 


COJ^TRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS 

lYEN  a  certain  amount  of  any  color,  say 
V_J  normal  or  spectral  red,  and  wishing  to  make 
it  look  as  bright  as  it  can,  what  color  shall  we 
put  with  it,  and  how  much  of  that  color,  to  attain 
our  purpose  ?  To  answer  that  question  correctly, 
having  in  the  last  chapter  studied  the  harmony 
possible  in  what  have  been  called  self-tones,  or 
one-color  combinations,  we  will  take  up  contrasts, 
of  which  we  have  several  kinds,  as  follows  : 

Simultaneous  contrasts  of  tone,  neutral. 
Simultaneous  contrasts  of  color  on  neutral 

grounds. 
Successive  contrasts. 
Mixed  contrasts. 
Contrasts  of  complements. 
Contrasts  of  other  hues  or  lesser  contrasts. 
Contrasts  of  brightness. 
Contrasts  of  purity. 
Contrasts  of  cold  and  warm  colors. 

The  first  point  to  understand  clearly  is  the  law 
of  simultaneous  contrast  of  tone  as  studied  and 

48 


CH.  IV 


CONTRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS 


49 


written  about  by  Chevreul  in  his  elaborate  work 
on  color.  Church  explains  this  law  :  "  Contrast 
caused  by  difference  in  brightness  is  commonly 
called  contrast  of  tone.  This  kind  of  contrast 
may  occur  alone  or  it  may  be  associated  with  con- 
trast of  hue  and  contrast  of  purity.  It  will  be 
well  to  consider  first  the  simplest  cases,  in  which 
contrast  of  tone  is  not  accompanied  by  other  con- 
trasts. It  is  impossible,  however,  to  reduce 
experiments  on  tone-contrast  to  their  simplest 
expressions,  because  a  third  element  always  comes 
in,  namely,  the  background  on  which  the  pair  of 
tones  is  placed  for  examination.  Whether  this 
background  be  black,  white,  gray,  or  colored,  it 
must  necessarily  differ  in  some  one  direction  from 
one  or  both  the  trial  pieces,  and  will  therefore  itself 
produce  a  contrast.  To  minimize  the  complication 
thus  introduced  we  may  try  an  experiment  for 
producing  the  phenomena  of  tone-contrast  in  three 
ways,  using  three  backgrounds  with  identical  trial 
pieces  on  each.  We  first  take  two  strips  of  light 
gray  paper,  A  and  A',  in  Plate  XV,  and  place  them 
a  few  inches  apart  on  a  large  sheet  of  (white) 
paper  in  a  good  light.  We  then  prepare  two 
similar  strips  of  a  considerably  darker  shade  of 
gray,  B  and  B',  and  place  them,  as  shown  in  the 
diao:ram,  B'  along:side  of  A'  and  the  other  the 
same  distance    from    B'  as  A  is  from  A^  On 


50 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


close  observation  it  will  be  seen  that  close 
to  appears  lighter  than  A,  which  lies  at 
some  distance,  while  B  appears  correspondingly 
darker  than  B'.  The  effect  of  contrast  in  en- 
hancing differences  of  tone  may  be  studied 
thus  :  Make  such  openings,  five  in  number,  in  a 
piece  of  card,  as  will  serve  to  divide  each  of  the 
strips  A  and  B  into  three  portions.  When  viewed 
through  this  card,  held  between  the  trial  pieces  and 
the  eye,  it  will  be  found  that  the  two  adjoin- 
ing parts  of  the  strip  are  most  contrasted  in  tone, 
and  the  others  less  so  in  proportion  to  their  dis- 
tance from  the  line  of  contact.  The  experiment 
should  now  be  repeated  with  a  background  of 
black  velvet,  and  again  with  a  background  of  gray 
paper  lighter  in  tone  than  either  of  the  strips. 
The  effect  of  contrast  of  tone  is  still  better  4 
seen  in  a  series  of  toned  strips  placed  next  each 
other.  In  such  a  case  the  effect  on  all  the  strips 
save  the  end  ones  is  that  of  double  contrast.  For 
the  second  strip  or  second  tone  has  one  side  of  it 
made  apparently  darker  by  reason  of  the  conti- 
guity of  the  lighter  tone  of  strip,  while  the  other 
side  seems  lighter,  owing  to  the  contiguity  of  the 
darker  tone  of  strip  3.  The  general  result  of 
these  double  contrasts  is  that  the  whole  series  or 
scale  of  tones  gives  the  appearance  of  a  number 
of  hollows,  although,  in  fact,  the  apparent  hollows 


IV 


CONTRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS 


51 


are  perfectly  flat  areas  of  uniform  shade.  The 
effect  of  this  experiment  is  approximately  repre- 
sented in  Plate  XV,  where  the  real  flatness  of  each 
tone  of  the  six  may  be  verified  by  covering  up  all 
the  others  by  a  card.  Tones  of  any  one  color  instead 
of  gray  may  be  thus  employed  to  illustrate  this 
kind  of  simultaneous  contrast,  but  its  characteristic 
effect  is  not  seen  unless  the  contrasting  tones  differ 
considerably  in  intensity,  iacrease  by  regular  gra- 
dations, and  are  near  each  other,  or  in  absolute 
contact.  However,  if  tones  of  a  color,  whether 
in  tints  or  shades,  be  used,  there  is  generally  a 
complication  introduced,  owing  to  the  difliculty  of 
getting  a  series  of  such  tones  which  shall  be  the 
same  in  hue. 

"  This  phenomenon  of  simultaneous  contrast  of 
tone  of  course  largely  affects  ...  all  draw- 
ings in  black  and  white  and  in  monochrome." 

Following  upon  the  law  of  simultaneous  con- 
trast of  tone  is  the  law  of  simultaneous  contrast  of 
color  formulated  by  Chevreul,  as  follows :  "  In 
the  case  where  the  eye  sees  at  the  same  time  two 
contiguous  (or  adjoining)  colors,  they  will  appear 
as  dissimilar  as  possible,  both  in  their  optical  com- 
position and  the  height  of  their  tone.  We  have, 
then,  at  the  same  time  simultaneous  contrast  of 
color,  properly  so  called,  and  contrast  of  tone." 
Plate  XVI  gives  the  simplest  examples  of  this  simul- 


52 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


taneoiis  contrast  of  color,  the  six  spectral  colors 
we  have  been  studying  on  grounds  of  white,  black, 
and  gray.  The  colors  seem  brighter  on  the  black 
ground  and  darker  on  the  white,  while  with  the 
gray  the  yellow  alone  is  much  affected,  it  seeming 
to  grow  brighter.  The  following  plates  (Nos. 
XYIT,  XVIII,  and  XIX)  give  the  same  coloring, 
but  reversed,  the  white,  black,  and  gray  being  in 
spots  or  disks  on  the  six  colored  grounds.  By 
covering  the  squares  on  Plate  XIX.  with  the  pre- 
pared sheet  of  paper  having  a  square  opening  just 
large  enough  to  allow  but  one  of  its  six  divisions 
to  be  seen  at  a  time,  we  shall  find  that  each  one 
of  the  disks  or  spots  looks,  not  pure  gray,  but 
tinged  with  another  color.  This  result  gives  us 
our  first  hint  of  what  is  called  a  complementary 
color.  In  the  case  of  the  gray  on  blue  the  gray 
will  appear  rusty  or  yellowish,  yellow  being  the 
complement  of  blue  ;  the  gray  on  yellow  will 
appear  bluer,  blue  being  the  complement  of  yellow  ; 
on  the  green  the  gray  will  look  purplish-red,  on 
the  orange  greenish-blue,  on  red  bluish-green,  and 
on  the  violet  yellowish-green. 

Black  lace  over  colors  is  always  affected  by  them 
in  a  similar  way.  Over  yellow,  its  complement 
being  blue,  the  lace  will  look  at  its  best,  that  is, 
blackest ;  over  blue,  the  lace  will  tend  to  yellow, 
and  will  lose  something  of  its  strength  and  the 


IV 


CONTRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS 


53 


fulness  of  its  black;  over  greens,  it  will  partake 
of  their  complement,  red,  and  tend  to  look  rusty. 

In  connection  with  this  tinging  of  black  with 
the  color  complementary  to  that  of  the  color  of  the 
ground  on  which  it  is  placed,  Chevreul  tells  an 
interesting  anecdote.  A  manufacturer  was  given 
black  and  colored  wools  with  which  to  make  some 
goods,  the  pattern  to  be  black  on  colored  grounds. 
When  they  were  delivered  the  man  who  had  or- 
dered the  goods  complained  that  he  had  not  been 
given  the  same  black  wool,  that  the  blacks  were 
not  pure  and  clear.  The  manufacturer  declared 
he  had  used  the  same  wools.  A  lawsuit  followed, 
in  the  course  of  which  Chevreul  was  called  upon 
to  give  his  testimony  as  to  color,  when  he  proved 
that,  according  to  the  law  of  simultaneous  contrast 
of  color,  the  black  wool  was  the  same,  but  when 
woven  in  figures,  as  for  instance,  black  on  blue,  the 
complementary  color  to  blue,  namely,  yellow,  being 
called  up  by  the  eye,  made  the  black  look  a  rusty- 
brownish  black  instead  of  pure  clear  black.  He 
added  that  the  only  way  to  make  the  black  on  blue 
look  pure  would  be  to  color  it  with  a  little  of  the 
blue  80  as  to  overcome  its  yellowish  complement. 

This  delicate  impression  of  the  color  comple- 
mentary to  the  one  we  are  looking  at,  is  called 
up  involuntarily  by  the  eye,  of  which  the  nerve 
fibrils  become  fatigued  by  the  strong  color,  and 


54 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


incline  to  see  the  extreme  opposite  or  complemen- 
tar}^  color.  The  complement  of  a  color  may  also 
be  called  up  or  produced  by  looking  fixedly  at  a 
round  spot  like  that  on  Plate  XX  for  some  time. 
After  a  while  there  may  be  seen  a  faint  image 
of  its  complement  on  the  white  paper  around  it. 
A  still  better  way  of  seeing  the  complement  of  a 
color  is  by  looking  fixedly  for  some  time  at  a 
disk  of  the  selected  color  placed  on  white  paper 
(Use  Plate  XXI) ;  then  suddenly  slip  a  sheet  of 
white  paper  over  it,  and,  continuing  to  look  at  the 
place  where  it  was,  the  same-sized  image  of  its  com- 
plement will  be  seen.  Here  we  have  the  answer 
to  the  question  at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter  : 
bluish-green  is  the  color  complementary  to  spectral 
red.  The  eye  becomes  tired  with  looking  at  the 
red,  and  the  nerve  fibrils  excited  by  it  incline 
to  see  its  complement,  bluish-green.  We  can, 
however,  prove  this  conclusion  most  correctly  by 
means  of  what  are  called  Maxwell's  disks.  If 
we  cut  out  a  disk  or  circular  piece  of  cardboard 
and  paint  it  spectral  red,  then  cut  a  second  one 
just  like  it  but  paint  it  bluish-green,  cutting  a  slit 
in  both  from  the  edge  to  the  middle  so  we  can 
slip  one  into  the  other  as  shown  in  Plate  XXII, 
and  then  turn  them  rapidly,  the  color  in  both  will 
seem  to  fade  away  until,  when  turning  fast  enough, 
we  shall  see  no  color  at  all,  —  simply  a  complete 


CONTRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS 


55 


disk  of  light  gray.  That  result  proves  that  spectral 
red  and  bluish-green  are  true  complements  of  each 
other,  because  a  certain  number  of  parts  of  red  neu- 
tralize a  certain  number  of  parts  of  bluish-green. 
If,  instead  of  using  paints  and  paper  we  were  able 
to  use  colored  light,  the  result  would  be  even 
better ;  we  should  have  white  light  as  the  result 
of  mixing  the  red  and  the  bluish-green  in  the 
right  quantities.  Pigments  are  so  dull  or  non- 
luminous  compared  with  light  that  with  them  we 
can  only  produce  gray,  or  as  it  has  been  called, 
dark  white,  or  white  in  shadow.  To  be  quite  sure 
that  we  have  gray,  let  us  add  in  front  of  our  disks 
two  smaller  ones  of  black  and  white,  and  we  will 
find  the  gray  produced  by  the  mixture  of  the 
black  and  white  to  match  perfectly  the  gray  made 
of  spectral  red  and  bluish-green.  To  measure  the 
quantity  of  each  color  necessary,  we  can  put  be- 
hind the  two  disks  a  white  disk  that  is  not  slit, 
the  circumference  of  which  is  divided,  as  in  Plates 
XXII,  XXIII,  XXIV,  XXY,  and  XXYI,  into 
one  hundred  parts.  These  are  plates  of  the  six 
specified  spectral  colors  with  their  complements. 
The  numbers  give  the  quantity  in  one-hundredths 
of  each  color.  The  number  of  luminosity" 
means  the  quantity  of  white  in  proportion  to 
black,  in  one-hundredths  -  necessary  to  make  the 
gray  of  that  particular  degree. 


56 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


The  Milton-Bradley  Company,  of  Springfield, 
Massachusetts,  make  an  excellent  little  machine, 
including  several  sets  of  disks  of  different  sizes  and 
good  colors,  and  a  stout  frame  on  which  to  put  the 
disks,  with  a  crank  by  which  to  turn  them.  It  can 
be  set  up  and  screw^ed  on  a  table,  so  that  any  one 
can  make  for  himself  these  delightful  experiments. 
Plate  XXVII  is  an  illustration  of  this  machine. 
There  is  hardly  a  limit  to  the  number  of  the  other 
complementary  colors  that  can  be  made  w^ith  this 
set  of  disks.  Study  of  this  set  of  complementary 
colors  is  most  important  as  a  foundation  for  all 
contrasts.  Experiment  has  also  proved  that  colors 
have  more  than  one  complement. 

"  Complementary  colors  of  full  brightness  and 
purity  afford  the  most  striking  examples  of  the 
effect  called  contrast.  When  each  of  a  pair  of  such 
colors  differs  as  much  as  possible  from  its  fellow 
in  hue,  but  is  of  the  same  degree  of  brightness,  it 
is  found,  while  the  brightness  of  both  is  enhanced, 
that  the  hue  of  both  is  unchanged  by  the  close 
neighborhood  or  contiguity  of  the  two  colors.  But 
if  the  pair  be  not  truly  complementary,  or  if  in 
brightness  or  purity  one  color  differ  from  the 
other,  then  such  difference  will  not  be  seen  exactly 
as  it  is,  but.  such  dissimilarity  as  exists,  whether  it 
be  of  one  hue,  of  purity,  or  of  brightness,  will  be 
increased  or  enhanced  by  juxtaposition.    This  is 


IV 


CONTRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS 


57 


the  primary  law  of  contrast,  which  embraces  three 
varieties  dependent  respectively  upon  differences 
as  to  the  three  constants  of  color,  namely,  hue, 
purity,  and  brightness  (or  luminosity).  If  two 
adjacent  colors  differ  in  brightness,  that  which  is 
the  brighter,  or,  in  other  words,  the  more  luminous, 
will  increase  in  brightness,  while  the  less  luminous 
will  have  its  brightness  diminished.  If  two  adja- 
cent colors  differ  in  hue,  such  difference  will  be 
increased,  each  hue  tending  to  change  as  if  it  had 
been  mixed  with  the  complementary  of  the  other. 
In  the  case  of  complementaries  no  increase  of 
difference  in  hue  is,  however,  possible."  ^ 

Plate  XXVIII  shows  us  the  six  spectral  colors 
with  their  complements,  not  in  quantity,  but  as  a 
table.  After  thorough  study  of  this  table  of  first 
and  simplest  contrasts,  the  practical  advantage  of 
Plates  XXII  to  XXYI  will  be  apparent.  To  make 
it  easier  we  give  Plate  XXIX,  which  shows  the  same 
set  of  complements.  Here  they  are  arranged  in  a 
circle  in  which  each  color  is  opposite  its  own  com- 
plement. This  circle  leads  us  from  the  strongest 
contrasts  of  complements  to  lesser  contrasts.  This 
should  also  be  studied  till  it  can  be  remembered  for 
future  reference.  Being  in  simple  spectral  colors, 
it  is  easier  than  the  more  numerous  tints  of  shades 
of  neutralized  colors,  and  is  also  a  key  for  under- 

1  Church. 


58 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


standing  and  classifying  them.  It  is  well  here  to 
note  how  many  complements  are  green  or  greenish 
in  hue. 

Concerning  the  law  of  simultaneous  contrast, 
with  regard  more  especially  to  lesser  contrasts, 
Rood  says :  "  When  any  two  colors  of  the  chro- 
matic circle  are  brought  into  competition  or  con- 
trasted, the  effect  produced  is  apparently  to  move 
them  both  farther  apart.  In  the  case,  for  exam- 
ple, of  orange  and  yellow,  the  orange  is  moved 
toward  the  red,  and  assumes  the  appearance  of 
reddish-orange ;  the  yellow  moves  toward  the 
green,  and  appears  for  the  time  to  be  greenish- 
yellow.  Colors  which  are  complementary  are 
already  as  far  apart  in  the  chromatic  circle  as  pos- 
sible ;  hence  they  are  not  changed  in  hue,  but 
merely  appear  more  brilliant  and  saturated." 
Plate  XXX  will  be  found  of  great  assistance  in 
comparing  pairs  of  colors  with  each  other.  Here 
we  have  a  diagram  of  a  chromatic  circle.  By 
placing  over  it  the  transparent  color  screen  found 
at  the  end  of  the  book,  and  moving  it  slowly  in 
the  same  direction,  it  will  be  seen  that  red  when 
contrasted  with  greenish-blue  causes  this  last  color 
to  move  away  from  the  centre  of  the  circle  in 
a  straight  line ;  hence,  as  the  new  point  is  on 
the  same  diameter,  but  farther  from  the  centre, 
we  know  that  the  greenish-blue  is  not  made  more 


IV 


CONTRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS 


59 


or  less  blue  or  green,  but  is  simply  caused  to  ap- 
pear more  saturated  or  brilliant.  The  new  point 
for  the  red  lies  also  on  the  same  diameter,  but  is 
nearer  the  centre  of  the  circle  ;  that  is,  the  color 
remains  red,  but  appears  duller  or  less  saturated. 
Experience  confirms  this.  If  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  pieces  of  red  cloth,  for  example,  are  ex- 
amined in  succession,  the  last  one  will  appear 
duller  and  inferior  in  brilliancy  to  the  others,  but 
it  will  still  appear  red.  Proceeding  with  the 
examination  of  the  effects  produced  on  the  other 
colors,  we  find  that  the  orange  has  been  moved 
toward  yellow  and  also  toward  the  centre  of  the 
circle ;  hence  our  diagram  tells  us  that  red,  when 
put  into  competition  with  orange,  causes  the  latter 
to  appear  more  yellowish  and  at  the  same  time 
less  intense.  So  we  can  go  on  comparing  one 
color  with  another  and  find  out  the  effect  of  each 
by  moving  the  one  circle  over  the  other  in  differ- 
ent directions,  always  finding  that  the  comple- 
ments as  moved  away  from  each  other  only  grow 
more  brilliant  but  more  changing  in  color.  Church 
gives  us  a  list  of  the  changes  due  to  the  principal 
pairs  of  lesser  contrasts  from  the  observations  of 
Chevreul,  Rood,  etc.,  as  follows  : 

(It  may  be  remarked  that  this  table  of  changes 
as  here  given  is  more  easily  understood  than  in  its 
original  form  as  given  by  Church.) 


60 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


Pairs  of  Colors. 
Red  witli  orange  . 
Orange  with  red  . 
Eed  with  yellow  . 
Yellow  with  red  . 
Ked  with  blue-green 
Blue-green  with  red 
Red  with  blue  . 
Blue  with  red  . 
Bed  with  violet 
Violet  with  red 
Bed  with  purple 
Purple  with  red 
Orange  with  yellow 
Yellow  with  orange 
Orange  with  green 
Green  with  orange 
Orange-yellow  with  turquoise 
Turquoise  with  orange-yellow 
Orange  with  violet  . 
Violet  with  orange  . 
Orange  with  purple  . 
Purple  with  orange  . 
Yellow  with  green  . 
Green  with  yellow  . 
Yellow  with  turquoise 
Turquoise  with  yellow 
Yellow  with  blue  . 
Blue  with  yellow  . 
Green  with  blue  . 
Blue  with  green  . 
Green  with  violet 
Violet  with  green 


Change  due  to  Simul- 
taneous Contrast. 

inclines  to  purple. 

^'  yellow, 
purple. 

"        green.  . 
becomes  more  brilliant. 

inclines  to  orange. 
"  green. 

orange. 

blue. 

orange. 
"  blue. 

red. 

green. 

"  red. 

"  blue-green. 

becomes  more  brilliant. 
((  (( 

inclines  to  yellow. 

blue, 
yellow. 
"  blue. 
"  orange. 
"  blue-green. 
"  orange. 
"  blue, 
becomes  more  brilliant. 

inclines  to  yellow-green. 
^'  violet. 

yellow-green. 
^'  purple. 


IV 


CONTRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS 


61 


Change  due  to  Simul- 
Paibs  of  Colors.  taneous  Contrast. 

Green  with  purple    .    .    „    .    .  becomes  more  brilliant. 

Purple  with  green    .....  "  " 

Blue  with  violet   inclines  to  green. 

Violet  with  blue   purple. 

Violet  with  purple   "  blue. 

Purple  with  violet   "  red. 

"It  must  not  be  imagined  that  the  changes 
enumerated  in  the  above  table  are  at  all  equal  to 
one  another  in  amount.  We  have,  indeed,  always 
some  change,  but  it  varies  much  in  the  case  of 
different  pairs.  When  the  chromatic  interval  (on 
the  color-circle)  is  small,  then  the  change  of  hue, 
in  virtue  of  simultaneous  contrast,  is  large ;  when 
the  interval  is  large  the  change  of  hue  is  slight, 
but  it  is  accompanied  by  change  of  brightness ; 
when  the  interval  is  as  large  as  possible  there  is 
no  change  of  hue,  but  the  brightness  of  both  hues 
is  increased." 

After  simultaneous  contrasts  Chevreul  gives  us 
successive  contrasts,  which  latter  "  may  be  observed 
when  we  tire  one  set  of  retinal  fibrils  by  gazing 
for  some  time  on  a  surface  of  a  very  decided  color 
and  brightness.  Afterward,  on  looking  at  a  color- 
less surface  of  white,  gray,  or  black,  it  will  be 
found  to  be  tinctured  with  the  complementary  of 
the  first  color."  If  we  stare  at  a  piece  of  bright 
red  paper  and  then  look  at  white  paper  we  will 


62 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


see  blue-green,  the  complement  of  the  red.  So,  if 
we  look  at  a  series  of  pieces  of  red  cloth  the  first 
will  appear  the  brightest,  the  second  less  so,  the 
third  still  less,  but  if  the  eye  is  rested  by  looking 
at  a  piece  of  bluish-green  cloth  the  red  will  then 
be  seen  of  its  original  brightness.  When  a  black 
spot  laid  on  red  cloth  is  looked  at  steadily  for 
some  time,  then  is  taken  suddenly  away,  the 
place  where  the  black  spot  was  will  apj^ear  to 
be  of  a  brighter  red  than  that  around  it  on  account 
of  the  less  fatigue  there  has  been  to  that  part 
of  the  retina.  A  salesman  who  understood  com- 
plementary colors  could  use  this  law  of  suc- 
cessive contrasts  with  great  effect  in  showing 
goods. 

Still  another  form  of  contrast  is  called  mixed 
contrast.  The  distinction  of  simultaneous  and 
successive  contrast  renders  it  easy  to  comprehend 
a  phenomenon  which  we  may  call  mixed  con- 
trast ;  because  it  results  from  the  fact  that  the 
eye,  having  seen  for  a  time  a  certain  color,  acquires 
an  aptitude  to  see  for  another  period  the  com- 
plementary of  that  color  and  also  a  new  color, 
presented  to  it  by  an  exterior  object ;  the  sensation 
then  perceived  is  that  which  results  from  this  new 
color  and  the  complementary  of  the  first.  The 
following  is  a  very  simple  method  of  observing  this 
mixed  contrast :  One  eye  being  closed,  the  right 


IV 


CONTRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS 


63 


for  instance,  let  the  left  eye  regard  fixedly  a  piece 
of  paper  of  the  color  A;  when  this  color  appears 
dimmed,  immediately  direct  the  eye  upon  a  sheet 
of  paper  colored  B ;  then  we  have  the  impression 
which  results  from  the  mixture  of  this  color  B  with 
the  complementary  color,  C,  of  the  color  A.  To  be 
satisfied  of  this  mixed  impression  it  is  sufficient 
to  close  the  left  eye,  and  to  look  at  the  color  B 
with  the  right:  not  only  is  the  impression  that 
produced  by  the  color  B,  but  it  may  appear  modi- 
fied in  a  direction  contrary  to  the  mixed  impression 
C+B,  or,  what  comes  to  the  same  thing,  it  appears 
to  be  more  A+B."  ^ 

That  the  complementary  of  a  color  exists  in  its 
shadow  may  be  seen  by  watching  a  stretch  of  snow 
when  the  sun  is  hidden  by  a  cloud  :  the  snow  is 
white,  the  shadow  gray.  When  the  cloud  passes 
away,  the  light  on  the  snow  makes  it  look  yellow ; 
the  shadow  will  also  be  seen  to  be  more  or  less 
blue  as  the  atmosjDhere  is  more  or  less  clear  and 
free  from  the  moisture  which  veils  the  sunlight. 
The  same  result  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  exists 
in  all  shadows,  which  shows  how  useful  study  of 
the  complementary  colors  is  for  painters. 

The  purple  or  violet  shadows  of  the  "  impres- 
sionists "  are  in  many  cases  exaggerations.  On 
snow^  dust,  or  sand,  violet  shadows  are  to  be  found 

1  Chevreul. 


64 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


in  certain  conditions  of  the  atmosphere,  but  "  im- 
pressionists "  often  do  not  seem  to  take  into  suffi- 
cient account  the  color  called  by  artists  "  local 
color  "  of  the  substance  or  material  on  which  the 
shadow  is  thrown,  or  the  color  of  the  sky  reflected 
in  the  shadow.  A  true  colorist  detects  these 
subtle  varieties.  An  artist  who  has  not  a  fine  ej^e 
for  color  uses  the  pure  colors  given  by  scientists, 
thus  making  the  crude,  harsh  pictures  so  much 
criticised.  They  are  true  to  a  great  extent  scien- 
tifically, but  are  cold  and  glaring,  and  without  the 
true  spirit  of  nature. 

In  studying  the  complements  of  these  six  spec- 
tral hues  we  come  across  the  theory  that  because 
a  color  and  its  complement  together  make  white, 
therefore  they  must  prove  to  be  an  agreeable 
harmony.  Now,  is  that  true  ?  At  first  sight  we 
answer,  No.  We  do  know  that  if  we  wish  to  make 
a  color  as  brilliant  as  possible,  we  must  add  to  it 
its  complement.  Under  certain  circumstances 
that  may  give  us  a  good  result,  but  artistic  taste 
declares  that  a  pure  spectral  color  and  its  com- 
plement make  a  combination  so  strong  and  vivid 
as  almost  to  amount  to  crudeness,  and  to  jar  on 
a  sensitive  eye.  Still,  the  theory  that  comple- 
mentary colors  make  a  true  and  perfect  harmony 
is  well  considered  in  the  following  extract  from 
Eastlake  : 


IV  CONTRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS  65 


"  Every  treatise  on  the  harmonious  combination 
of  colors  contains  the  diagram  of  the  chromatic 
circle  more  or  less  elaborately  constructed.  These 
diagrams,  if  intended  to  exhibit  the  contrasts  pro- 
duced by  the  action  and  reaction  of  the  retina, 
have  one  common  defect.  The  opposite  colors  are 
made  equal  in  intensity ;  whereas  the  comple- 
mental  color  pictured  on  the  retina  is  always  less 
vivid,  and  always  darker  or  lighter  than  the 
original  color.  This  variety  undoubtedly  accords 
more  with  harmonious  effects  in  painting. 

"  The  opposition  of  two  pure  hues  of  equal  in- 
tensity, differing  only  in  the  abstract  quality  of 
color,  would  immediately  be  pronounced  crude  and 
inharmonious.  It  would  not,  however,  be  strictly 
correct  to  say  that  such  a  contrast  is  too  violent ; 
on  the  contrary,  it  appears  the  contrast  is  not 
carried  far  enough,  for  though  differing  in  color, 
the  two  hues  may  be  exactly  similar  in  purity  and 
intensity.  Complete  contrast,  on  the  other  hand, 
supposes  dissimilarity  in  all  respects.  In  addition 
to  the  mere  difference  of  hue,  the  eye,  it  seems, 
requires  difference  in  the  lightness  or  darkness  of 
the  hue.  The  spectrum  of  a  color  relieved  as  a 
dark  on  a  light  ground  is  a  light  color  on  a  dark 
ground,  and  vice  versa.  Thus,  if  we  look  at  a 
bright  red  wafer  on  the  whitish  surface,  the  com- 
plemental  image  will  be  still  lighter  than  the 


66 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


white  surface ;  if  the  same  wafer  is  placed  on  a 
black  surface  the  complemental  image  will  be 
still  darker.  The  color  of  both  these  spectra  may 
be  called  greenish  (bluish-green),  but  it  is  evident 
that  a  color  must  be  scarcely  appreciable  as  such, 
if  it  is  lighter  than  white  and  darker  than  black. 
It  is,  however,  to  be  remarked,  that  the  white 
surface  round  the  light  greenish  image  seems 
tinged  with  a  reddish  hue,  and  the  black  surface 
round  the  dark  image  becomes  slightly  illuminated 
with  the  same  color,  thus  in  both  cases  assisting 
to  render  the  image  apparent. 

"  The  difficulty  or  impossibility  of  describing 
degrees  of  color  in  words  has  also  had  a  tendency 
to  mislead,  by  conveying  the  idea  of  more  positive 
hues  than  the  physiological  contrast  warrants. 
Thus,  supposing  scarlet  to  be  relieved  as  a  dark, 
the  complemental  color  is  so  light  in  degree  and 
so  faint  in  color  that  it  should  be  called  a  pearly 
gray  ;  whereas  the  theorists,  looking  at  the  quality 
of  color  abstractedly,  would  call  it  a  green-blue, 
and  the  diagram  would  falsely  present  such  a  hue 
equal  in  intensity  to  scarlet,  or  as  nearly  equal  as 
possible. 

"  Even  the  difference  of  mass  which  good  taste 
requires  may  be  suggested  by  the  physiological 
phenomena,  for  unless  the  complemental  image  is 
suffered  to  fall  on  a  surface  precisely  as  near  to 


IV 


CONTRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS 


67 


the  eye  as  that  on  which  the  original  color  was 
displayed,  it  appears  larger  or  smaller  than  the 
original  object,  and  this  in  a  rapidly  increasing 
proportion.  Lastly,  the  shape  itself  soon  becomes 
changed.  That  vivid  color  demands  the  compara- 
tive absence  of  color,  either  on  a  lighter  or  darker 
scale,  as  its  contrast,  may  be  inferred  again  from 
the  fact  that  bright  colorless  objects  produce 
strongly  colored  spectra.  In  darkness  the  spec- 
trum, which  is  first  white,  or  nearly  white,  is 
followed  by  red  ;  in  light,  the  spectrum,  which  is 
first  black,  is  followed  by  green.  All  color,  as  the 
author  observes,  is  to  be  considered  as  half  light, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  in  every  case  lighter  than  black 
and  darker  than  white.  Hence  no  contrast  of 
color  with  color,  or  even  of  color  with  black 
or  white,  can  be  so  great  (as  regards  lightness  or 
darkness)  as  the  contrast  of  black  and  white,  or 
dark  and  light  abstractedly.  This  distinction 
between  the  differences  of  degree  and  the  differ- 
ences of  kind  is  important,  since  a  just  application 
of  contrast  in  color  may  be  counteracted  by  an 
undue  difference  in  lightness  or  darkness.  The 
mere  contrast  of  color  is  happily  employed  in  some 
of  Gruido's  lighter  pictures,  but  if  intense  dark  had 
been  opposed  to  his  delicate  carnations,  their  com- 
parative whiteness  would  have  been  unpleasantly 
apparent.    On  the  other  hand,  the  flesh-color  in 


68 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


Giorgione,  Sebastian  del  Piombo  (his  best  imitator), 
and  Titian,  was  sometimes  so  extremely  glowing 
that  the  deepest  colors  and  black  were  indispen- 
sable accompaniments.  The  manner  of  Titian,  as 
distinguished  from  his  imitation  of  Giorgione,  is 
golden  rather  than  fiery,  and  his  biographers  are 
quite  correct  in  saying  that  he  was  fond  of  oppos- 
ing red  (lake)  and  blue  to  his  flesh.  The  corre- 
spondence of  these  contrasts  with  the  physiological 
phenomena  will  be  immediately  apparent,  while 
the  occasional  practice  of  Rubens  in  opposing 
bright  red  to  a  still  cooler  flesh-color  will  be  seen 
to  be  equally  consistent.  ... 

"  It  was  before  observed  that  the  description  of 
colors  in  words  may  often  convey  ideas  of  too 
positive  a  nature,  and  it  may  be  remarked  gener- 
ally that  the  colors  employed  by  the  great  masters 
are,  in  their  ultimate  effect,  more  or  less  subdued 
or  broken.  The  ]3hysiological  contrasts  are,  how- 
ever, still  applicable  in  the  most  comparatively 
neutral  scale." 

Chevreul  gives  us  in  his  book.  Colour  (a 
work  published  in  1835,  which  has  gone  through 
many  editions  and  translations,  having  finally 
been  edited  and  republished  in  1889  by  his  son),  an 
elaborate  system  of  color  contrasts  based  upon  the 
older  theory  of  three  primary  colors,  red,  yellow, 
and  blue.    There  followed  upon  this  in  1890  one 


IV 


CONTRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS 


69 


by  Charles  La  Couture,  Repertoire  Chromatique, 
containing  an  ingenious  and  beautiful  system  of 
color  scales  also  founded  upon  the  Brewster  theory 
of  red,  yellow,  and  blue  as  primary  colors.  Of 
these  color  charts  it  has  been  well  said  that  they 
are  only  able  to  display  the  effects,  not  of  mixing 
colored  light,  but  colored  pigments. 

The  following  are  rules  to  be  used  in  regard  to 
contrasting  colors : 

Rule  I.  —  A  pair  of  complementary  colors  in 
their  pure  spectral  tones  in  the  proportions  in 
which  they  neutralize  or  complement  each  other, 
as  in  Plates  XXII  to  XXVI,  should  only  be  used 
if  you  wish  to  produce  a  bold,  striking,  perhaps 
harsh  effect ;  or  if  you  wish  to  create  a  focus  in 
your  picture,  your  room,  or  your  decoration.  In 
the  latter  case  it  will  be  well  to  soften  the  effect 
(especially  in  the  case  of  a  picture)  by  repeating 
the  same  colors  in  tints  or  shades  in  some  other 
part  of  the  work. 

Rule  II.  —  Harmony  of  contrast  exists  only  in 
proportion  to  the  changes  in  quality  or  quantity 
in  equal  portions  of  pure  spectral  tones. 

Rule  III,  —  The  more  neutral  you  make  the 
tint  or  shade  of  one  of  the  pair  of  complements, 
so  much  the  more  may  you  add  to  its  quantity. 
For  instance,  a  small  quantity  of  bright  spectral 
red  will  balance  a  large  quantity  of  pale  blue-green. 


70 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


Rule  IV.  —  By  using  two  or  more  tints,  or 
shades  and  tints,  of  one  of  the  pair  of  comple- 
ments, so  much  the  finer  becomes  the  harmony. 
The  artist  Turner  sent  to  an  exhibition  of  the 
Royal  Academy  in  England  a  marine  which  was 
accepted  and  hung,  but  which,  being  a  quiet  pict- 
ure consisting  mainly  of  pale,  grayish  sea-greens, 
attracted  little  attention.  On  varnishing  day, 
however,  he  went  to  the  Academy  and  painted  in 
the  foreground  of  his  picture  a  scarlet  buoy,  when 
to  the  surprise  of  every  one,  owing  to  the  correct 
balance  of  the  quality  and  quantity  of  his  comple- 
mentary contrast,  the  scarlet  and  blue  green  so 
intensified  each  other  that  the  picture  became  a 
striking  one,  dulling  the  others  around  it  and 
drawing  constant  admiration. 

From  a  dinner  table  set  out  at  a  flower  show  in 
the  Madison  Square  Garden,  which  took  a  first 
prize,  Plate  XXXI  is  taken.  It  was  a  harmony 
of  yellow  and  blue. 

1.  Yellow  chrysanthemums. 

2.  Yellow  lamp-shades. 

3.  Yellow  satin  centrepiece. 

4.  Yellow  candies. 

5.  Yellow  candies. 

6.  Yellow  candies. 

7.  Yellow-brown  almonds. 


IV 


CONTRASTS  AND  COMPLEMENTS 


71 


8.  Gold  ornament  on  glass,  china,  and  candies. 

9.  Dark  purple-blue  grapes. 

In  this  case  some  of  the  yellow  was  in  pure 
spectral  tones,  the  blue  very  ^strong,  dark,  and 
neutralized. 

Rule  VI.  —  The  finest  harmony  of  contrast  will 
be  found  where  tints  and  shades  of  both  the  pair 
of  complements  can  be  combined.  Then  a  small 
amount  of  both  in  spectral  tones  may  be  introduced 
to  give  accent  to  the  rest.  Plate  XXXII  gives  a 
blue  and  yellow  harmony  taken  from  an  English 
china  cup  composed  of  two  blues  and  two  yellows, 
both  neutral.  The  ground,,  being  of  a  pale  tint  of 
yellow,  is  greater  in  quantity  according  to  Rule 
III.  The  dainty  pattern  painted  on  it  is  in  the 
two  blues ;  the  delicate  stems  holding  and  uniting 
the  conventional  leaves  and  flowers  are  of  brown 
(or  dark  yellow).  The  brown,  being  the  darkest 
color,  is  the  smallest  in  quantity,  as  the  harmony 
is  intended  to  be  light  and  cheerful. 

Harmonies  in  blue  and  yellow  have  been  used 
with  great  success  in  old  decoration,  when  blended, 
modified,  and  interchanged  with  each  other,  and 
are  one  of  the  most  useful  combinations  of  colors 
that  can  be  made.  They  are  largely  used  in 
Italian  and  Spanish  tiles  and  other  porcelains. 
They  are  complementary  colors  strongly  opposed 


72 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH.  IV 


to  each  other,  but  the  reason  for  their  being  more 
agreeable  than  other  pairs  of  complements  seems 
to  arise  from  the  fact  that  one,  the  yellow,  is 
so  much  more  luminous  (or  lighter)  than  the  other 
that  it  affords  a  greater  contrast  than  appears  in 
the  other  pairs  of  complements. 

Rule  VII.  —  Even  pure  spectral  colors  may  be 
used  with  good  effect  by  blending  them  in  small 
portions,  as  in  what  are  technically  called  diaper 
patterns. 

We  have  still  a  further  power  of  adding  to  our 
harmony  of  contrasts  by  the  use  of  different  mate- 
rials, such  as  paper,  paint,  plaster,  silk,  satin, 
velvet,  plush,  and  metals,  in  which  the  variety  of 
surfaces  gives  an  infinite  number  of  tones,  absorb- 
ing and  reflecting,  etc.  These  will  be  considered 
in  the  chapter  on  color-harmonies,  and  seem 
really  inexhaustible.  In  that  chapter  is  given 
a  list  of  pairs  of  the  lesser  contrasting  colors, 
such  as  have  been  found  by  observation  of  historic 
color  to  be  the  most  agreeable  to  the  eye. 


CHAPTER  V 


COLOR-IIARMONIES 


HARMONIES  OF  COMPLEX  OR  VARIOUS  COLORS 

T  is  said  that  tlie  use  of  agreeable  and  liarmoni- 


J-ous  colors  tends  to  the  sanity  of  the  whole 
body  by  strengthening  the  nerves  ;  so  much  so, 
that  part  of  the  treatment  of  insane  patients  in  a 
European  asylum  consists  in  surrounding  them 
with  certain  colors,  and,  probably,  of  changing 
these  according  to  certain  rules.  From  these  facts 
we  surely  learn  that  there  is  reason  beyond  that 
of  our  mere  enjoyment  of  colors  to  lead  us  to 
study  color  harmonies. 

The  most  widely  accepted  division  of  these  har- 
monies is  that  of  Chevreul,  who  in  his  life  of  over 
one  hundred  years  had  time  to  formulate,  revise, 
and  amplify  his  laws  of  color,  and,  from  his  posi- 
tion as  director  of  the  manufacture  of  the  Gobe- 
lin tapestries,  great  opportunities  for  experiment. 
The  two  chief  groups,  based  respectively  on  anal- 
ogy and  on  contrast,  are  resolved  into  three  sub- 
divisions each.  These  are  quoted  as  follows  from 
Church,  who  has  added  some  explanations  to  them 
as  given  in  The  Laio  of  Simultaneous  Contrast  : 

73 


74 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


"  I.  HARMONIES    OF  ANALOGY. 

"  IT.  HARMONIES   OF  CONTRAST. 

1.  Tlie  Harmony  of  Analogy  of  Scale.  —  This 
harmony  is  essentially  that  of  a  series,  the  har- 
mony of  gradation.  It  includes  those  cases  in 
which  is  presented  a  simultaneous  view  of  three 
or  more  tones  of  the  same  scale,  whether  these 
tones  be  tints,  or  shades,  or  broken  tones.  It  is 
obtained  in  various  degrees  of  perfection,  accord- 
ing to  the  number  of  tones  present,  and  the  value 
of  the  intervals  between  them.  When  the  tones 
are  not  easily  separable  by  the  eye,  and  pass  into 
one  another,  then  the  effect  called  ^  shading '  is 
produced. 

"2.  The  Harmony  of  Analogy  of  Tones. — 
When  two  or  more  tones  of  the  same  depth,  or  of 
very  nearly  the  same  depth,  but  belonging  to  dif- 
ferent but  related  or  neighboring  scales,  are  viewed 
together,  the  harmony  of  tone  is  produced.  Many 
such  assortments  are,  however,  displeasing  to  the 
educated  eye,  unless  the  tones  be  so  selected  as  to 
fall  into  a  series  with  a  gradually  increasing  quan- 
tity of  some  one  of  their  color  elements,  when  they 
may  be  arranged  in  the  third  kind  of  harmonies 
of  analogy. 

"3.  The  Harmony  of  a  Dominant  Hue.  —  An 
example  of  this  harmony  is  afforded  by  viewing  a 
contrasted  color  assortment,  a  bouquet  of  flowers, 


y 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


75 


or  even  a  landscape,  through  a  piece  of  glass  so 
slightly  tinctured  with  a  color  as  not  to  obliterate, 
but  merely  to  modify,  the  various  colors  belonging 
to  the  arrangement  or  composition. 

^^1.  The  Harmony  of  Contrast  of  Scale  is  pro- 
duced by  the  simultaneous  view  of  two  or  more 
distant  tones  of  the  same  scale. 

"2.  The  Harmony  of  Contrast  of  Tones  is  pro- 
duced by  the  simultaneous  view  of  two  or  more 
tones  of  different  depths  belonging  to  neighboring 
or  related  scales. 

"  3.  The  Harmony  of  Contrast  of  Hue  is  pro- 
duced by  the  simultaneous  view  of  colors  belonging 
to  distant  scales,  and  assorted  in  accordance  with 
the  laws  of  contrast.  This  kind  of  contrast  in- 
cludes also  those  cases  in  which  the  effect  is  still 
further  enhanced  by  difference  of  tone  as  well  as 
of  color. 

"  The  distinction  between  these  two  classes  or 
groups  of  harmonies  is  somewhat  arbitrary,  for 
the  collocation  of  any  two  tones  or  any  two  colors, 
whether  its  results  be  agreeable  or  otherwise,  inevi- 
tably involves  the  element  of  contrast.  Color- 
harmonies,  so  far  as  contrast  is  concerned,  differ 
in  degree  and  complexity,  but  Chevreul's  harmo- 
nies of  analogy  pass  by  steps  more  or  less  marked 
into  distinct  and  undoubted  harmonies  of  contrast. 
In  every  harmony  there  is  contrast  of  tone  or  of 


76 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


color,  and  therefore  contrast  cannot  be  employed 
as  a  criterion  of  classification.  The  two  funda- 
mental ideas  underlying  complex  color-harmonies 
may  perhaps  be  expressed  as  those  of  gradual 
change  and  of  abrupt  change.  Instead  of  sepa- 
rating color-harmonies  into  two  distinct  groups,  it 
would  be  better  to  arrange  them  in  order  upon 
the  arc  of  a  circle,  placing  at  one  extremity  those 
harmonies  on  which  the  succession  of  contiguous 
tones  or  hues  is  marked  by  the  smallest  differ- 
ences, and  at  the  other  extremity,  those  harmonies 
in  which  the  elements  of  contrast  are  most  strongly 
developed.  About  the  middle  of  the  arc  will  be 
arranged  those  transitional  harmonies  in  which 
contrasts  of  tone,  contrasts  of  color,  and  contrasts 
of  tone  and  color  combined,  begin  to  make  them- 
selves felt  as  modifying  the  effect  of  the  regular 
sequence  of  tones  and  related  hues.  According  to 
this  scheme,  we  may  commence  with  harmonies  in 
which  the  succession  of  tones  is  so  gentle  as  to 
be  barely  perceptible,  and  we  may  end  with  those 
harmonies  in  which  the  change  of  hue  and  of  tone 
is  most  abrupt.  A  list  of  illustrative  examples 
will  help  to  elucidate  the  scheme : 

"1.  The  passage,  by  insensible  differences,  of  the 
tints,  shades,  or  broken  tones  of  a  single  hue  from 
light  to  dark. 

"  2.  The  passage,  by  small  but  regular,  definite, 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


77 


and  perceptible  steps,  of  the  tints,  shades,  or 
broken  tones  of  a  single  hue  from  light  to  dark. 

"3.  The  passage,  as  in  the  preceding  example 
(2),  of  the  tones  of  one  hue,  from  light  to  dark, 
when  each  step  is  separated  by  a  neutral  element, 
such  as  white,  gray,  or  black. 

"  4.  The  passage,  by  insensible  differences,  of  one 
hue,  or  of  the  tones  of  one  hue  into  another  related 
hue,  or  its  tones. 

"  5.  The  passage,  by  definite  steps,  of  one  hue, 
or  of  the  tones  of  one  hue,  into  another  related  hue 
or  its  tones. 

6.  The  passage,  as  above  (5),  of  related  hues 
into  each  other,  each  step  separated  by  a  neutral 
element. 

7.  The  passage,  by  insensible  differences,  of  one 
hue  into  another  chromatically  remote  hue. 

"  8.  The  passage,  by  definite  steps,  of  one  hue 
into  another  chromatically  remote  hue. 

"  9.  The  passage,  as  above  (8),  of  one  hue  into 
another,  when  each  step  is  separated  by  a  neutral 
element. 

"10.  The  collocation  of  distant  tones. 

"11.  The  collocation  of  chromatically  distant 
hues  with  or  without  the  interposition  of  neutral 
elements. 

"It  will  be  noticed  how  the  idea  of  seriation 
or  gradation  becomes  more  and  more  involved 


78 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


with  that  of  change  as  we  follow  the  sequence  of 
the  above  examples.  Gradually  the  notion  of 
orderly  succession,  of  a  regular  series  with  the  pres- 
ence of  a  pervading  and  dominant  constituent,  is 
lost  by  the  abruptness  of  change  caused  by  the 
introduction  of  foreign  elements,  or  by  the  con- 
tiguity of  distant  tones  and  distant  hues." 

As  both  of  these  sets  of  rules  for  harmonies  of 
colors  are  so  elaborate  as  to  amount  almost  to  color 
charts,  and  would  be  difficult  and  complicated  to 
print  in  colors,  for  our  practical  purpose  we  will 
roughly  divide  harmonies  of  colors  under  three 
heads;  as  follows  (See  Plate  XXXIII): 

Harmonies  of  one  color. 
Harmonies  of  contrast  (of  color). 
Harmonies  of  complex  or  various  colors. 

This  division  is  not  strictly  correct,  because  even  in 
a  harmony  of  one  color  the  element  of  contrast 
will  appear ;  as,  for  instance,  when  we  combine  a 
pale  tint  of  yellow,  say  straw  color,  with  brown, 
which  is  a  dark  shade  of  yellow.  As,  however,  in 
this  case  it  is  contrast  of  tone,  not  contrast  of 
color,  we  will  not  let  that  interfere  with  the  order 
of  our  arbitrary  classification.  The  first  class, 
harmonies  of  one  color,  have  been  considered  in 
Chapter  III.  When  simple,  refined  color  is  wanted 
in  either  dress  or  decoration,  or  where  from  inex- 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


79 


perience  one  is  afraid  to  combine  colors,  it  is  best 
and  safest  to  use  this  simplest  kind  of  color 
harmony.  With  this  class,  as  black  and  white  are 
not  colors,  we  will  also  include  harmonies  of  one 
color  combined  with  black,  or  white,  or  gray,  or 
two  or  all  three  of  these.  From  a  book  advertise- 
ment most  successful  in  its  clear,  simple,  and 
agreeable  character  we  give  Plate  XXXIV.  It 
was  on  white  paper,  the  proportions  as  follows  : 
Most  white,  less  black,  least  yellow,  this  latter 
always  outlined  with  black.  The  white  also 
showed  through  the  yellow  in  some  places  and 
served  to  lighten  the  design. 

In  decoration,  when  two  tones  of  one  color  are 
used  they  are  often  separated  with  a  fine  line  of 
white  or  black  or  gray.  In  Plate  XXXV  the 
useful  effect  of  such  a  line  of  separation  is  shown. 
A  light  tint  on  a  dark  shade  does  not  so  much 
need  an  outline,  but  a  dark  shade  on  a  light  tint 
is  much  improved  by  white  outlines.  The  white 
line  increases  the  apparent  strength  of  both  tint 
and  shade,  while  black  will  increase  their  bright- 
ness but  diminish  their  purity. 

"  In  the  consideration  of  the  specific  effects  of 
the  association  of  white,  gray,  or  black  with  a 
single  color,  we  follow  the  order  in  which  the 
colors  succeed  each  other  in  the  spectrum,  adding 
purple  at  the  end. 


80 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


"1.  Red.  —  Red  with  white  becomes  deeper, 
more  saturated  or  purer,  and  less  bright.  The 
combination,  as  to  intensity  of  contrast,  is  similar 
to  that  of  green  with  white,  being  less  than  that 
of  blue,  violet,  or  purple  with  white,  but  more 
marked  than  that  of  orange  or  yellow  with  white. 

Red  with  gray,  when  the  latter  is  moderately 
pale,  becomes  brighter  and  less  saturated,  some- 
times acquiring  an  orange  tinge. 

2.  Orange.  —  Orange  with  white  is  rendered 
deeper,  and  perhaps  a  trifle  more  reddish.  The 
contrast  of  tone  between  orange  and  white  is  much 
greater  than  that  between  yellow  and  white ;  the 
combination  is  consequently  more  effective. 

Orange  with  gray,  when  the  latter  is  pale,  is 
deepened  and  reddened.  With  dark  tones  of  gray 
orange  becomes  lighter. 

"  Orange  with  hlack  becomes  brighter  and  slightly 
yellower. 

3.  Yellow.  —  Yellow  with  white  is  rendered 
deeper,  less  bright,  and  less  advancing,  acquiring 
a  slight  greenish  hue.  The  lighter  the  tone  of  the 
yellow  the  less  pleasing  is  the  combination. 

"  Yellow  with  gray  is  rendered  brighter  and  per- 
haps slightly  orange.  The  combination  is  satis- 
factory when  the  gray  is  rather  dark. 

"  Yellow  with  hlack  is  rendered  paler,  brighter, 
and  more  advancing.    The  combination  affords 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


81 


the  most  intense  contrast  of  tone  next  to  that  of 
white  with  black.  The  blackness  of  the  black  is 
modified  by  acquiring  a  slight  bluish  hue  which 
enriches  it. 

"  4.  Green.  —  Green  with  loliite  becomes  deeper 
and  purer ;  the  combination  is  capable  of  yielding 
very  beautiful  effects. 

"  Green  with  grmj  becomes  deeper  only  when  the 
gray  is  pale ;  if  the  gray  be  at  all  dark  it  acquires 
a  purplish  tinge. 

"  Green  with  hlack  is  rendered  brighter  and  paler, 
while  the  black  suffers,  being  tinged  with  a  red- 
dish or  purplish  hue. 

^'5.  Blue. — Blue  with  lohite  constitutes  a 
generally  pleasing  combination.  The  contrast  of 
tone  is  very  decided  when  the  blue  is  at  once  pure 
and  bright.  The  effect  of  strongly  illuminated 
white  clouds  in  deepening  the  tone  of  the  blue  of 
the  sky  bordering  them  is  a  good  example  of  one 
of  the  chief  characteristics  of  this  combination ; 
under  such  conditions  the  white  often  assumes  a 
slightly  yellowish  tint. 

Blue  with  gray.  G-ray,  if  pale,  deepens  and 
purifies  blue  ;  the  combination,  though  necessarily 
cold,  is  often  most  serviceable  in  pictorial  as  well 
as  in  ornamental  art. 

''Blue  with  hlach.  This  combination  is  less 
agreeable  than  that  of  blue  with  gray,  or  of  violet 


82 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


with  black,  especially  when  the  tone  of  the  blue 
is  deep.  Light  tones  of  blue  are  made  still  paler, 
but  broken  tones  more  saturated,  by  contiguity 
with  black. 

"  6.  Violet.  — Violet  with  white  affords  a  strong 
contrast  of  tone ;  the  combination  is  an  agreeable 
one,  resembling  that  of  blue  with  white. 

'''Violet  with  gray.  The  distinctive  hue  of  violet 
makes  itself  felt  strongly  in  this  combination, 
which  is  a  quiet  and  agreeable  one. 

"  Violet  with  hlack  gives  but  a  slight  contrast  of 
tone  when  the  violet  is  pure.  The  black  acquires 
a  rusty  brown  hue,  which  reduces  its  depth. 

"  7.  Purple.  —  Purple  with  white  affords  a  good 
contrast  of  tone.  Pale  purples  and  rosy  tints 
form  agreeable  combinations  with  white. 

Purple  with  gray  resembles  in  effect  the  com- 
bination of  violet  with  gray ;  the  gray,  if  of 
moderate  area,  becomes  decidedly  greenish. 

Purple  with  hlack  is  rarely  a  satisfactory  com- 
bination ;  the  black  acquires  a  greenish  hue."  ^ 

The  second  class,  harmonies  of  contrast,  have 
been  studied  in  Chapter  lY.  Where  bold,  striking, 
emphatic  color  is  needed  the  complementary  colors 
may  be  used.  The  most  prominent  part  of  a  pic- 
ture, a  room,  or  a  decoration  will  be,  as  far  as 
color  is  concerned,  where  some  color  and  its  com- 

»  Colour.   By  A.  H.  Church.   Ch.  X.,  p,  116. 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


83 


plement  in  nearly,  or  quite,  spectral  hues  are 
given.  This  striking  effect  of  contrast  will 
lessen  accordingly  as  the  colors  darken  into 
shades,  or  lighten  into  tints,  or  become  more 
and  more  neutral  from  the  mixture  with  some 
other  color.  An  eye  untrained  or  inexperienced 
will  find  these  complementary  contrasts  diflft- 
cult  to  use,  there  being  danger  of  producing  a 
crude  or  harsh  effect.  Rules  for  their  use  are 
given  in  Chapter  TV.  Classifying  the  comple- 
mentary pairs  according  to  the  pleasure  we  take 
in  them  we  may  put  yellow  and  blue  first,  then 
orange  and  green-blue,  red  and  blue-green,  finally 
violet  and  green.  Chevreul,  Rood,  Yon  Bezold, 
and  Bruecke,  having  made  many  experiments  and 
observations  in  their  attempts  to  lay  down  rules  for 
harmonious  combinations,  state  that  here  we  come 
upon  problems  that  cannot  be  solved  by  purely 
scientific  reasoning.  By  comparing  the  art  of  one 
country  or  of  one  period  of  one  country  with  that 
of  another,we  find  that  throughout  them  all,  certain 
pairs  of  colors  have  been  preferred  to  certain  others 
and  we  feel  that  iBsthetic  taste,  which  cannot  be 
explained,  influences  us  greatly  in  our  liking  for 
certain  combinations.  Beside  taste,  inheritance, 
training,  environment,  and  contrast  all  have  their 
unconscious  effect  upon  these  preferences.  Church 
divides  pairs  of  colors  into  three  classes  :  Pairs  of 


84 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


the  small  intervals,  pairs  of  decided  differences, 
and  the  extremes  or  complements.  The  latter  we 
have  considered  in  Chapter  IV.  Pairs  of  the 
small  intervals  are  such  as 

Orange-red  and  yellowish-orange, 
Reddish-orange  and  orange-yellow, 
Orange  and  yellow, 

which,  being  so  close  to  each  other  in  the  color 
scale  in  decoration,  are  apt  to  injure  each  other 
unless  separated  by  outlines  of  black,  white,  gray, 
or  gold.  Rood  gives  the  following  table  of  small 
intervals  : 

*'  Darker.  Lighter. 

Red  Orange-red. 

Orange-red  Orange. 

Orange  Orange-yellow. 

Orange-yellow  Yellow. 

Yellowish-green  Greenish-yellow. 

Green  Yellowish-green. 

Cyan-blue  Green. 

Blue  Cyan-blue. 

Ultramarine-blue  Blue. 

Violet  Purple. 

Purple   Red." 

Church  gives  us  the  following  list  of  pairs  as, 
from  his  and  others '  observations,  they  have  been 
found  to  have  been  more  or  less  agreeable : 

"  An  asterisk  attached  to  the  name  of  a  color 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


85 


indicates  that  the  mixture  of  gray  or  black  with 
it  improves  the  effect  of  its  association.  It  may 
be  further  remarked  that  in  many  cases  where 
two  colors  of  full  depth  yield  a  bad  or  unsatisfac- 
tory assortment  the  reduction  of  the  tone  of  one 
of  them  by  a  considerable  addition  of  white  often 
makes  the  combination  agreeable. 

"  Normal  red  with  violet   bad. 

"    blue   excellent. 

"  "  blue-green  ....  good,  but  strong. 

"       "  "    green   good,  but  hard. 

"       "  "  green-yellow  .    .    .  fair. 

"  "  yellow  *     .    .    .    .  unpleasing. 

Scarlet  "  violet    .....  bad. 

"  "  turquoise  ....  good. 

"  blue   good. 

"  "    yellow   unpleasing. 

"  green   fair. 

Orange-red  "    violet   good. 

"       "  "    purple   fair. 

"    blue   excellent. 

"  "  turquoise  ....  good. 

"       "  "  blue-green     .    .    .  unpleasing. 

"       "  "  yellow-green  .    .    .  fair. 

Orange  "    purple   bad. 

"  "    violet   good. 

"  "    blue   good,  but  strong. 

"  "  turquoise  ....  good. 

"  blue-green     .    .    .  good. 

"  "    green   fair. 

Orange-yellow  "    purple   good. 

"  "    violet   excellent. 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 

Orange-yellow  ^ 

wiih.  blue  

good. 

((  (I 

tTirquoise  .... 

fair. 

((  (( 

u 

blue-green     .    .  . 

moderate. 

a  a 

u 

green  

bad. 

Yellow 

u 

violet   

excellent. 

ii 

purple  

good. 

u 

normal  red    .    .  . 

poor. 

turquoise  .... 

moderate. 

blue-green*  .    .  . 

bad. 

green  ^  .... 

bad. 

Grreenish-yellow 

(( 

good. 

kC 

violet   

excellent. 

c 

scarlet  

strong,  and  hard. 

u 

orange-red    .    .  . 

lair. 

u 

turquoise  .... 

bad. 

l( 

normal  blue  .    .  . 

good. 

Yellowish-green 

a 

normal  red    .    .  . 

good,  but  hard. 

u 

purple  

dimcuit. 

a 

blue-green     .    .  . 

bad. 

a  a 

a 

blue  

good. 

Normal  green 

purple  

strong,  but  hard. 

u 

scarlet  

dimcult. 

u 

orange-red     .    .  . 

hard. 

u 

turquoise  .... 

bad. 

Blue-green 

a 

fair. 

((  (( 

u 

good. 

(( 

blue  

bad. 

((  a 

a 

bad. 

u  a 

(( 

yellowish-green 

bad. 

a  u 

(( 

turquoise  .... 

bad. 

The  above  list  comprises  fifty-five  only  of  the 
very  numerous  combinations,  in  pairs,  of  some  of 
the  decided  hues.    ,    .    .    It  is  assumed  that  in 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


87 


our  experiments  on  tlieir  chromatic  effects,  pleas- 
ing or  otherwise,  we  have  been  using  colored 
materials,  which  neither  by  any  peculiarity  of 
texture,  nor  quality,  nor  design,  are  capable  of 
improving  the  results.  Cloth  and  paper  are  suita- 
ble ;  silk,  velvet,  glass,  and  enamel,  for  various 
reasons,  give  results  which  are  complicated  by  the 
introduction  of  new  elements.  Pairs  in  these 
latter  materials,  in  consequence  of  the  presence 
of  lustre,  translucency,  or  ^  throbbing '  hues,  in 
varying  degrees,  will  often  become  quite  accepta- 
ble, while  in  prosaic  cloth,  or  paper,  they  are  just 
the  reverse." 

The  third  class,  harmonies  of  complex  or  various 
colors,  follows,  and  includes  groups  of  three  or 
more  colors.  The  difficulties  of  combination  in- 
crease as  the  number  of  colors  increases.  It  is 
well  to  remember,  if  one  is  bewildered  with  these 
difficulties,  that,  however  fine  the  harmony  of 
many  colors  may  be,  it  can  hardly  surpass  the 
beauty  of  one  made  of  but  two  or  three,  provided 
that  these  are  well  proportioned  to  each  other  in 
quantity  and  quality,  suited  to  and  combined  in 
some  good  design,  or  made  up  of  various  materials 
with  differing  surfaces.  As  to  triads,  or  three-color 
combinations.  Rood  gives  us  the  following  groups  as 
having  been  most  extensively  used,  and  if  we  draw 
on  our  memory  we  may  probably  recall  both  paint- 


88 


COI^OR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


ings  and  decorations  consisting  of  any  one  of 
these  combinations.  (See  Plates  XXXYI  and 
XXXVII.) 

Spectral  red,  yellow,  and  blue. 

Purple-red,  yellow,  cyan-blue  (greenish-blue 

like  a  turquoise). 
Orange,  green,  violet. 
Orange,  green,  purple-violet. 

With  regard  to  these  he  calls  our  attention  to  the 
fact  that  in  them  the  colors  are  nearly,  or  quite, 
120°  apart  on  the  chromatic  circle,  also  that  artists 
in  their  choice  of  these  colors  have  been  evidently 
guided  by  their  wish  to  have  two  out  of  three 
warm  colors.     According  to  Bruecke : 

Carmine,  yellow^  and  green,  a  favorite  combina- 
tion during  the  middle  ages,  to  us  seems  "  some- 
what hard  and  unrefined." 

Orange-yellow,  violet,  and  hluish-green  are  not 
so  agreeable  because  two  of  the  colors  are  cold. 
In  the  triad  vermilion,  green,  and  violet-hlue,  used 
greatly  by  the  Italian  schools,  there  seem  at  first 
to  be  two  cold  colors,  but  as  the  green  was  olive 
it  might  be  called  vermilion,  dark  greenish-yellow, 
and  violet-hlue. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  give  formulas  of 
certain  colors  as  they  are  supposed  properly  to 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


89 


balance  one  another,  or  to  make  chromatic 
equivalents."  Field  elaborated  this  theory  in  his 
Chromatography^  and  it  was  adopted  by  Owen 
Jones  in  his  Grammar  of  Ornament.  Later 
writers  on  color,  however,  show  that  Field's  ex- 
periments were  not  such  as  to  justify  his  con- 
clusions. The  leading  idea  he  tried  to  prove 
was,  that  to  make  a  perfect  harmony,  each  color 
in  a  given  picture  or  design  should  bear  such  a 
mathematical  relation  to  the  whole  that  the  com- 
bination of  all  should  make,  when  seen  at  a  dis- 
tance, a  neutralized  bloom,  or  a  whitish-gray." 
He  speaks,  for  instance,  of  red,  yellow,  and  blue. 
This  has  a  plausible  sound,  but  cannot  be  correct, 
for  with  a  color- wheel  we  find  that  red,  yellow,  and 
blue  will  not  in  any  proportions  make  a  ^'  whitish- 
gray,"  also  because  almost  all  of  the  best  works  of 
good  colorists  have  throughout  them  some  domi- 
nant hue,  more  generally  on  the  warm  side,  such  as 
yellow,  orange,  or  red.  At  the  same  time  careful 
study  of  texture  will  be  very  useful,  as  different 
weaves  reflect  and  absorb  the  colors  so  as  to  pro- 
duce a  sort  of  "neutralized  bloom,"  such  as  Field 
speaks  of. 

That  chromatic  equivalents  can  be  made  is 
shown  by  Maxwell's  disks  \  as,  for  instance,  Church 
gives  us  the  proportions  of  three  colors  which  on 


90 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


being  turned  on  the  wheel  rapidly  produce  a 
neutral  gray,  as  follows  : 

"  Red  36  J  +  green  33|  +  blue  29|  =  100." 
We  have  also  already  seen  in  the  chapter  on 
Contrasts  that  certain  parts  of  one  color  require 
certain  parts  of  another  color  to  neutralize  it  and 
so  make  gray. 

As  there  is  no  end  to  the  possible  combinations 
of  colors  we  can  only  give  certain  rules  for  mak- 
ing them,  leaving  it  to  the  student  to  follow  up 
his  previous  practice  with  two  colors  and  by  ex- 
perience to  enlarge  his  knowledge  and  ability  to 
use  all  colors  with  skill. 

A  full  harmony,  in  fact  a  symphony,  of  colors 
can  hardly  be  better  explained  than  by  describing 
one  used  in  the  trial  scene  in  the  "Merchant  of 
Venice,"  as  given  by  Mr.  Mansfield.  The  tribune 
or  desk  behind  which  Portia  delivered  her  speech 
was  white,  draped  with  a  full-hued  scarlet  cloth. 
The  black  of  her  gown,  the  strongest  contrast  to 
white,  and  the  brilliant  red,  were  admirably  used 
to  focus  the  eye  upon  this  part  of  the  scene  just 
as  the  ear  was  focused  on  the  speech  "  The  quality 
of  mercy  is  not  strained."  The  other  principal 
actors,  Shylock,  Antonio,  and  Bassanio,  wore  red, 
yellow,  blue  ;  bright  colors,  but  less  bright  and 
less  contrasting  than  the  white,  black,  and  scarlet. 
The  attendants  and  spectators  were  in  more  neutral 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


91 


and  subdued  colors,  while  away  behind  them  all 
stretched  a  grayish  blue  sky  seen  between  the 
pillars  of  a  wide  porch  which  formed  a  background 
well  calculated  to  throw  into  relief  the  colors  of 
the  costumes. 

From  what  we  have  learned  we  find  the  follow- 
ing ways  of  harmonizing  colors  : 

First.  By  Gradation,  that  is,  the  gradual  blend- 
ing of  one  color  into  another,  or  one  variety  of  one 
color  into  another  variety  of  the  same  color,  as  in 
the  morning-glory  blossom,  in  which  the  different 
hues  grade  softly  into  one  another  from  edge  to 
heart ;  or  as  in  a  clear  sunset  sky,  where  the  blue 
above  changes  into  green,  the  green  into  yellow, 
and  the  yellow  into  red  near  the  horizon,  and  where 
still  we  cannot  find  the  exact  boundary  of  any 
one  of  the  colors.    (See  Plate  XXXVIII.) 

"  These  ever-present  gentle  changes  of  color  in 
all  natural  objects  give  to  the  mind  a  sense  of  the 
richness  and  vastness  of  the  resources  of  Nature  ; 
there  is  always  something  more  to  see,  some  new 
evanescent  series  of  delicate  tints  to  trace  ;  and, 
even  where  there  is  no  conscious  study  of  color,  it 
still  produces  its  effect  on  the  mind  of  the  beholder, 
giving  him  the  sense  of  the  fulness  of  Nature,  and 
a  dim  perception  of  the  infinite  series  of  gentle 
changes  by  which  she  constantly  varies  the  aspects 
of  the  commonest  objects.     This  orderly  succes- 


92 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


sion  of  tints,  gently  blending  into  one  another, 
is  one  of  the  greatest  sources  of  beauty  that  we  are 
acquainted  with,  and  the  best  artists  constantly 
strive  to  introduce  more  and  more  of  this  element 
into  their  works,  relying  for  their  triumphs  far 
more  on  gradation  than  on  contrast.  The  greatest 
effects  in  oratory  are  also  produced  by  correspond- 
ing means ;  it  is  the  modulation  of  the  tone  and 
thought,  far  more  than  sharp  contrasts,  that  is 
effective  in  deeply  moving  audiences.  We  are 
very  sensitive  to  the  matter  of  modulation  even  in 
ordinary  speech,  and  instantly  form  a  general 
judgment  with  regard  to  the  degree  of  cultivation 
and  refinement  of  a  stranger  from  the  mode  in 
which  a  few  words  are  pronounced.  All  this  has 
its  parallel  in  the  use  of  color,  not  only  in  painting, 
but  also  in  decoration.  Ruskin,  speaking  of  gra- 
dation of  color,  says :  ^  You  will  find  in  prac- 
tice that  brilliancy  of  hue  and  vigor  of  light, 
and  even  the  aspect  of  transparency  in  shade, 
are  essentially  dependent  on  this  character  alone ; 
hardness,  coldness,  and  opacity  resulting  far 
more  from  ecfuality  of  color  than  from  nature 
of  color.'  In  another  place  the  same  author, 
in  giving  advice  to  a  beginner,  says  :  '  And  it 
does  not  matter  how  small  the  touch  of  color 
may  be,  though  not  larger  than  the  smallest 
pin's  head,  if  one  part  of  it  is  not  darker  than 


Y 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


93 


the  rest,  it  is  a  bad  touch ;  for  it  is  not  merely 
because  the  natural  fact  is  so  that  your  color 
should  be  gradated ;  the  preciousness  and  pleas- 
antness of  color  depends  more  on  this  than  on  any 
other  of  its  qualities,  for  gradation  is  to  colors  just 
what  curvature  is  to  lines,  both  being  felt  to  be 
beautiful  by  the  pure  instinct  of  every  human 
mind,  and  both,  considered  as  types,  expressing  the 
law  of  gradual  change  and  progress  in  the  human 
soul  itself.  What  the  difference  is  in  mere  beauty 
between  a  gradated  and  ungradated  color  may  be 
seen  easily  by  laying  an  even  tint  of  rose-color  on 
paper,  and  putting  a  rose-leaf  beside  it.  The  vic- 
torious beauty  of  the  rose  as  compared  with  other 
flowers  depends  wholly  on  the  delicacy  and  quantity 
of  its  color-gradations,  all  other  flowers  being  either 
less  rich  in  gradation,  not  having  so  many  folds  of 
leaf,  or  less  tender,  being  patched  and  veined  in- 
stead of  flashed.' "  ^ 

In  connection  with  gradation,  Church  says : 
There  is  one  quality  of  good  color  which  lies  at 
the  very  root  of  all  successful  employment  of  vivid 
hues.  It  consists  in  minute  variations  of  hue  and 
tone  within  the  same  surface.  A  color  must  not 
be  absolutely  uniform,  flat,  and  monotonous  unless 
it  be  very  pale,  very  dull,  or  very  dark,  when 
the  absence  of  this  throbbing'  or  ^palpitating' 
quality,  though  undesirable,  is  less  observed.  We 

1  Modern  Chromatics.   By  Prof.  O.  N.  Rood.   Ch.  XVI. 


94 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


have  before  us,  as  we  write,  a  fine  old  Chinese 
vase  of  turquoise  crackle.  Apart  from  the  mosaic 
texture,  resulting  from  the  innumerable  fissures  in 
the  glaze,  what  a  number  of  variations  in  appear- 
ance does  this  turquoise  color  offer !  Where  the 
color  is  thinnest  it  is  paler,  and  verges  more  upon 
green ;  where  it  is  thickest,  it  is  at  once  deeper, 
and  more  blue,  and  there  are  innumerable  hues 
and  tones.  In  painting,  similar  effects  may  be 
produced  by  unequal  glazings  and  scumblings  of 
one  hue  upon  another,  or  by  apposition  of  minute 
dots  and  patches  of  closely  related  colors."^ 

The  following  is  a  practical  way  of  using  this 
beauty  of  gradation  :  For  instance,  in  the  morn- 
ing glory  and  the  sweet  pea  we  may  observe  a 
perfectly  beautiful  combination  of  crimson,  purple, 
and  violet.  Notice  the  charming  gradation  of 
color  in  the  morning  glory ;  one  tone  runs  into 
the  other  with  a  subtlety  which  is  quite  wonderful, 
and  all  the  colors  merge  into  the  luminous  green 
white  centre  from  absolute  positivism  to  perfect 
delicacy  with  an  ease  which  is  surprising.  Now 
let  us  try  to  mass  a  large  group  of  crimson,  purple, 
violet,  and  greenish-white  asters  together  with  the 
same  result.  Alas !  what  a  task  it  is  and  how 
confused  we  become  with  the  distracting  color 
tones ;  but  we  must  feel  our  way  carefully  and 
systematically.    First,  our  most  powerful  color  — 

1  Colour.   By  A.  H.  Church.    Ch.  XL,  p.  144. 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


95 


crimson  or  violet  —  must  be  grouped  gracefully 
and  placed  in  a  prominent  position  ;  next,  we 
must  run  our  color  tone  either  toward  blue  or 
crimson,  as  the  case  may  be.  If  we  have  any  gas- 
light near  we  must  make  use  of  it  to  accent  our 
prominent  group,  and  last,  mingled  slightly  with 
the  palest  tones  of  dull  pink  and  purplish-blue, 
we  may  group  our  greenish- white  asters  in  some 
position  where  they  will  contrast  well  with  the 
strong  color  group,  and  where  they  will  be  sure  to 
have  the  intermediate  blue  and  crimson  tones  act 
like  a  bridge  to  connect  the  color  scheme.  Nothing 
distracts  the  eye  so  much  as  violent  transitions  of 
color."  ^ 

A  similar  element  of  beauty  in  Oriental  rugs, 
not  always  understood,  and  one  in  which  they 
differ  from  those  made  by  machinery,  arises  from 
the  fact  that  being  made  by  hand  there  are  slight 
variations  throughout,  even  in  the  dyeing  of  the 
wools.  In  an  unusually  fine  specimen  the  rich 
green  ground  varied  slightly  in  tone  three  or  four 
times.  To  an  uncultivated  eye  this  might  seem 
a  defect ;  to  an  artistic  one,  the  play  of  color,  the 
variety  in  unity,  is  far  finer  than  the  even  monot- 
ony of  a  perfectly  matched  surface. 

Second.  By  Change  of  Quality  ;  as  from 
pure  spectral  colors  to  their  tints  or  shades.  The 

1  F.  Schuyler  Matthews. 


96 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


greater  we  make  this  change  either  way,  the  more 
sure  we  may  be  of  harmony,  as  a  color  scheme  of 
very  pale  tints  or  very  dark  shades  is  almost  sure 
to  be  good  even  if  quite  varied.  In  fact,  contrast 
of  tone,  which  is  change  of  quality,  will  harmonize 
any  two  colors,  as  pale  blue  and  dark  green,  or 
pale  green  and  dark  blue.  Of  pairs  of  con- 
trasts which  in  pure  spectral  colors  we  have  seen 
to  be  crude  and  harsh.  Rood  says,  "  Complemen- 
tary colors  are  very  valuable  when  the  artist  is 
obliged  to  use  dark,  dull,  or  pale  colors,  and  still 
is  desirous  of  obtaining  a  strong  or  brilliant  effect." 
Another  kind  of  change  of  quality  helps  us  to 
make  very  beautiful  combinations.  It  lies  in  the 
use  of  colors  that  are  neither  spectral,  nor  pure 
tints,  nor  shades,  but  of  such  as  are  neutralized  by 
mixtures  of  other  colors  ;  as,  for  instance,  if  instead 
of  using  pure  yellow,  pure  red,  and  pure  blue,  we 
use  a  yellow  toned  down  by  an  admixture  of  a 
little  red  and  blue,  a  red  toned  in  the  same  way 
with  blue  and  yellow,  and  a  blue  that  has  in  it 
something  of  red  and  yellow;  the  colors  will  still 
be  yellow,  red,  and  blue,  but  in  approaching  each 
other  will  become  more  related  and  so  far  more 
harmonious.  Still  another  change  of  quality 
allows  us  to  put  in  the  place  of  one  or  more  of  the 
colors  the  same  amount  of  a  tint  or  a  shade  of  the 
same  color  which  will  improve  the  harmony  by 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


97 


varying  its  luminosity  and  by  bringing  all  nearer 
together.    (See  Plate  XXXIX.) 

Third.  By  Change  of  Quantity;  as  of  a 
large  amount  of  one  of  the  colors  to  a  small 
amount  of  the  other,  so  as  to  introduce  another 
element  of  contrast.  For  want  of  the  better  bal- 
ance as  given  by  the  fourth  rule  it  is  inferior  to  it. 
(See  Plate  XL.) 

Fourth.  By  Change  of  Quality  and  Quan- 
tity ;  or  by  making  a  small  amount  of  a  dark 
shade  of  one  color  balance  a  much  larger  amount 
of  a  light  tint  of  another  color,  or,  vice  versa,  a 
small  amount  of  a  light  tint  to  balance  a  much 
larger  amount  of  a  dark  shade,  or  a  small  amount 
of  a  pure  color  to  balance  a  large  amount  of  a 
more  neutral  color.  In  this  case  the  rule  is  that 
accordingly  as  you  lower  or  raise  the  quality  of 
your  color  so  in  proportion  may  you  increase  its 
quantity.    (See  Plate  XLI.) 

Fifth.  By  the  Addition  of  another  Color, 
however  unobtrusive,  which  breaks  the  even  bal- 
ance between  two  colors,  just  as  in  form,  where 
we  may  find  two  trees  of  the  same  size  and  shape 
make  an  unpleasant  composition.  There  the  effect 
can  be  much  improved  by  the  addition  of  a  third 
tree  of  a  different  size  and  shape.  For  instance, 
with  yellow  and  yellowish-green,  the  addition  of 
violet  would  improve  and  harmonize  them.  This 


98 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


third  color  can  be  added  in  different  ways,  by  out- 
lines, small  masses,  etc.    (See  Plate  XLII.) 

Sixth.  By  the  Addition  of  Black,  White, 
Gray,  Gold,  or  Silyer.  —  When  two  colors  are 
not  quite  harmonious  a  small  quantity  of  black 
will  much  improve  the  combination.  The  strong 
contrast  in  depth  between  the  black  and  the  colors 
seems  to  bring  them  together  and  so  make  them 
more  related.  In  Chinese  coloring  the  happy 
effect  of  black  should  be  noted,  also  in  old  Japa- 
nese prints  where  the  black  hair  of  the  figures 
acts  in  the  same  way.  This  black,  white,  gray, 
gold,  or  silver  may  be  added  in  outlines,  as  the 
brass  in  Japanese  cloisonne,  or  in  such  lines  as 
these  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  drawn  over  the  whole 
design,  as  seen  in  a  wall  paper,  softening  the  colors 
and  blending  them  with  each  other.  It  may  be  as 
in  cement  around  and  between  the  little  bits  of 
stone  in  mosaic,  which  produces  much  the  same 
effect  in  throwing  a  sort  of  bloom  over  the  colors. 
It  may  be  in  separating  some  part  of  the  design 
from  the  other,  as  seen  in  a  wall  decoration  where 
there  was  a  rectangle  of  greenish-blue  on  a  ground 
of  dark  violet-blue  separated  by  white  and  gold,  of 
which  the  result  was  excellent ;  or  it  may  be  by 
little  dots  over  all  the  colors.    (See  Plate  XLIII.) 

Seventh.  By  a  Dominant  Hue,  which  may  run 
through   all   the  design   in   outlines,  although 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


99 


colored  outlines  are  not  so  good  as  those  of  black, 
white,  gray,  gold,  or  silver,  or  those  which  may  be 
added  in  small  spots  over  all  the  colors  ;  or  those 
which  may  be  added  in  small  quantities  to  all  the 
colors,  changing  their  quality,  and  so  bringing  them 
to  a  harmony  of  a  dominant  hue.  To  make  this 
clear,  look  at  Plate  VI.  In  it  we  have  pure  spectral 
yellow,  pure  spectral  blue,  and  pure  spectral  red. 
Put  over  it  the  blue  screen  found  in  the  end  of 
the  book  ;  the  blue  will  be  seen  to  be  bluer,  the 
yellow  will  become  a  greenish-yellow,  the  red  will 
have  a  violet  tinge  to  it.  It  will  have  become  a 
harmony  of  the  dominant  hue  of  blue,  but  as  blue 
is  a  cold  color  the  harmony  will  not  have  become 
much  more  agreeable  for  the  change.  Try  what 
making  the  same  colors  a  harmony  of  the  dominant 
hue  of  yellow  will  do  by  putting  over  it  the  yellow 
screen.  The  colors  will  be  seen  to  be  quite  different. 
The  yellow  will  be  changed  very  little,  only  growing 
slightly  darker,  the  red  from  the  pure  spectral  hue 
will  be  moved  toward  the  orange,  and  the  blue 
will  be  moved  toward  the  green.  This  gives  us  a 
fine  harmony,  and  a  favorite  one  with  artists. 
Harmonies  of  the  dominant  hues  of  red,  orange, 
or  yellow  —  warm  colors  —  are  much  more  gener- 
ally liked  than  those  of  blue,  green,  or  violet,  the 
cold  colors.  Age  has  done  much  for  old  pictures 
by  darkening  and  mellowing  the  paints  and  var- 


100  COLOR  PROBLEMS  ch. 

nish  so  as  to  give  them  harmony  of  the  dominant 
hue.  Jean  Fran(^ois  Millet's  have  such  harmony 
already,  owing  to  his  fine  eye  for  color ;  it  will  he 
noticed  that  though  he  may  have  put  many  fairly 
bright  colors,  blue,  red,  green,  and  yellow  on 
one  canvas,  they  all  blend  wonderfully  together. 
"Harmony"  (we  quote  from  Burnet  on  Colour, 
who  speaks  of  Mengs)  "  he  considers  to  consist  in 
the  true  equilibrium  of  the  different  colors  regu- 
lated by  the  general  tone  of  light  by  which  they 
are  illuminated  ;  thus,  if  the  light  is  yellow,  all 
the  colors  will  appear  tinged  with  the  same  hue, 
as  the  air  interposed  between  them  and  the  eye  of 
the  spectator  is  already  tinged  with  that  color." 
The  harmony  resulting  from  a  dominant  hue  in 
nature  may  also  be  seen  in  a  spray  of  young 
leaves  in  spring  when  many  hues  of  green  and 
yellow  will  be  found  connected  and  harmonized  by 
the  red  of  the  stem,  which  color  runs  through  it 
all,  carrying  the  red  into  the  greens  and  yellows. 
(See  Plate  XLIY.) 

Eighth.  By  In'terchange.  — If  two  unbroken 
masses  of  the  same  quantity  of  strong  color  are 
put  side  by  side  the  result  may  be  unbearable.  By 
interchanging  them,  however,  in  this  way,  in  what 
are  called  in  design  diaper  patterns,  they  may 
blend  so  as  to  be  quite  agreeable.  Or  they  may 
be  blended  in  weaving  by  interchange,  as  if  one 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


101 


thread  be  of  green,  the  next  of  purple,  then  again 
green.    (See  Plate  XLV.) 

Ninth.  By  Counterohange.  —  Examples  of 
fine  decorative  art  may  be  found  of  two  colors 
where  the  design  and  the  ground  change  places  at 
certain  intervals.  It  is  an  ingenious  and  beautiful 
way  of  obtaining  variety  of  coloring.  To  make 
it  successful  the  amount  of  ground  color  should 
balance  that  of  the  design.  Plate  XLYI  gives 
us  a  good  example. 

Tenth.  By  Form  and  Texture,  as  by  the 
curves  in  a  vase  or  any  object  which  deepens  the 
color  as  it  goes  away  from  the  light  and  lightens 
it  as  it  turns  toward  the  light  •  as  in  a  curtain  of 
which  the  folds  modify  the  color ;  as  in  rough  and 
shaggy  stuffs  like  plush,  etc.,  which  produce  con- 
stant variation  and  vibration  of  color,  and  just  so 
much  added  charm.  The  sparkle  in  jewels  and 
colored  glass,  the  sheen  on  satins,  silks,  and 
metals,  and  the  down  on  fruit  also  come  under 
this  rule,  as  so  many  modifications  of  color 
tending  to  break  up  its  flat  surface  and  produce 
harmony. 

Eleventh.  By  Outlining  a  mass  of  flat  color  in 
a  design  with  black  or  a  dark  color,  then  adding  a 
second  outline  inside  the  first,  but  of  either  a  light 
tint  of  the  same  color  as  the  dark  mass  or  of 
another  color  which  harmonizes  with  it;  then 


102 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


there  will  be  found  an  agreeable  result.  In  fact, 
this  will  give  a  velvety  appearance  to  the  color. 

In  making  a  complex  color  arrangement  it  is 
well  to  begin  by  planning  first  its  leading  parts; 
the  additions  will  be  much  easier.  Harmony  of 
color  must  come  not  alone  from  the  object  we 
are  planning  for,  but  also  from  the  place  in  which 
it  is  to  be  used,  or  the  person  who  is  to  wear 
it.  The  color  of  an  object  may  be  beautiful 
in  itself,  but  much  of  that  beauty  may  be  lost  or 
neutralized  by  its  surroundings.  On  the  other 
hand,  an  object  giving  but  one  good,  simple  color 
note  may  be  so  appropriate  to  its  position,  may  so 
exactly  suit  its  surroundings,  as  to  complete  a 
perfect  harmony. 

Colors  should  also  be  adapted  to  the  form  of  the 
object  or  designs  on  which  they  are  to  be  used. 
Thus,  when  wishing  to  emphasize  a  part  that  re- 
tires from  the  eye,  retiring  colors  should  be  used, 
and  vice  versa. 

In  addition  to  the  above  rules  a  few  suggestions 
for  making  color-harmonies  may  be  useful : 

First,  texture  can  be  used  to  help  the  harmony. 

Second,  harmonies  with  warm  colors  predomi- 
nating are  preferred. 

Third,  if  certain  colors  are  to  be  used  in  any 
decoration  it  is  wise  to  put  them  together  first  in 
paint,  paper,  or  plain  materials,  for  the  reason  that 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


103 


any  unpleasant  effect  they  may  have  on  one  another 
will  show  more  quickly  in  such  materials ;  for  the 
better  the  material,  the  more  readily  the  colors 
blend  on  account  of  the  richer  surfaces.  In 
colored,  not  painted,  glass,  this  can  be  appreciated. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  quality  of  the  glass  and 
the  brilliancy  of  the  light  through  it  help  to 
harmonize  the  colors. 

Fourth,  a  simple  pattern,  if  pattern  at  all, 
should  be  tried  first,  as  the  beauty  of  a  good 
design  may  blind  one  to  the  quality  of  the  coloring. 

Fifth,  remember  that  combinations  in  which 
warm  colors  prevail  are  more  agreeable  than  those 
made  mainly  of  cold  colors,  while  it  is  also  true 
that  the  finest  harmony  of  complex  or  various 
colors  is  that  in  which  there  is  a  proper  balance 
of  both  warm  and  cold  colors,  so  used  that  they 
enhance  each  other. 

Sixth,  it  is  safe  to  affirm  that  any  colors  may 
be  used  together  with  success,  provided  that  they 
are  harmonized  by  the  use  of  some  of  the  rules 
here  given. 

Any  one  unused  to  working  with  colored  mate- 
rials would  do  wisely  to  begin  cautiously,  experi- 
menting at  first  with  simple  combinations  of  one 
color  according  to  the  first  rule  on  page  75  for 
such  combinations.  In  some  flowers  we  do  see  the 
two  extremes  of  a  color  combined,  as  in  a  jonquil 


104 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


the  centre  is  of  orange-yellow,  the  outer  petals  of 
greenish-yellow,  but  they  are  rather  the  exception. 
Attention  here  should  also  be  had  to  the  sugges- 
tion as  to  the  use  of  differing  materials  of  one 
color.  When  some  skill  has  been  gained  in  the 
simplest  kind  of  color  harmony,  a  single  note  of  the 
complementary  color  may  be  added.  For  example, 
see  the  dinner  table  harmony,  page  69,  of  yellows 
with  a  strong  note  of  dark  blue  When  the  eye 
has  become  somewhat  trained  by  practice  of  this 
kind,  harmonies  in  triads  or  three  colors  may  be 
tried.  Constant  practice  in  pairs  and  triads  cannot 
be  too  fully  recommended.  Finally,  trials  may  be 
made  in  complex  combinations.  One  other  way 
to  begin  working  in  color  is  by  the  use  of  neutral 
or  grayed  colors.  Turner,  the  English  artist,  one 
of  the  greatest,  if  not  the  greatest,  of  modern 
landscape  painters,  began  in  this  way,  in  the  use 
of  what  are  called  broken  tints,"  using  finally  in 
his  pictures  the  fullest  palette  of  glowing  colors. 

Let  us  suppose  three  ways  of  being  called  upon 
to  make  a  color  harmony.  The  first,  that  a 
designer  has  an  order  for  a  bouquet,  a  dress,  a 
curtain,  or  for  the  decoration  of  a  room,  but  is 
limited  by  the  terms  of  the  order  to  the  use  of 
certain  colors.  Then  let  him  begin  by  studying 
the  qualities  of  those  colors,  and  ask  himself  if 
they  are  cool  or  warm,  tints  or  shades,  bright  or 


V 


COLOR-HARMONIES 


105 


dull,  whether  they  are  tones  of  one  color,  contrasts 
or  complex. 

Again,  suppose  the  order  to  be  less  limited  in 
color,  but  that  the  bouquet  is  to  be  put  in  a  room 
of  certain  coloring,  or  the  dress  to  be  worn  by  a 
person  of  such  and  such  complexion  and  hair,  or 
that  the  curtain  is  to  be  hung  in  a  north  room 
where  warm  color  is  needed,  or  perhaps  in  a  light 
room  where  the  southern  sun  needs  to  be  toned 
down  as  it  enters,  to  prevent  a  glare.  The  general 
coloring  of  the  room  must  also  be  taken  into  ac- 
count, but  is  it  not  seen  that  the  answer  must  be 
different  in  each  case  ?  One  colored  flower  would 
give  quite  a  different  effect  from  another,  the  dress 
that  would  suit  a  fair  face  with  yellow  hair  would 
be  quite  unlike  one  becoming  to  a  dark  skin  with 
black  hair,  while  a  curtain  of  soft  yellow  would 
tinge  the  northern  light  with  some  of  the  sun- 
shine color  that  never  enters  the  dull  room,  and 
in  the  sunny  room  a  curtain  of  cool,  non-lumi- 
nous color  would  soften  the  glare  and  add  to  its 
comfort  and  harmony.  The  light  and  shade  in 
the  room  should  also  be  taken  into  account.  The 
warm  and  cold  tones  can  be  arranged  in  such 
balance  that  color  will  glow  from  the  shadows. 

In  a  third  supposable  case  the  designer  is  given 
unlimited  choice  of  colors.  Then  every  resource 
can  be  called  in,  and  the  work  resulting  should  be 


106 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH.  V 


beautiful  in  proportion  to  the  freedom  of  the  order. 

Furthermore,  colors  should  be  appropriate ;  for 
a  quiet  room,  a  quiet,  commonplace  person,  for 
anything  where  quiet  effect  is  desired,  the  designer 
should  adhere  to  quiet,  neutral  combinations,  or  to 
combinations  of  one  color.  When  a  woman  has  a 
brilliant  complexion,  black  eyes  and  dark  hair, 
gay  colors  may  be  worn  and  seem  all  in  harmony 
with  the  wearer,  but  these  same  gay  colors  would 
only  emphasize  the  more  commonplace  character 
and  coloring  of  others. 

Plates  XL VII  and  XLVIII  have  been  added  here 
to  show  the  true  character  of  ivhites  so-called ;  as 
blue-white,  which  is  really  a  very  pale  tint  of 
blue  ;  and  how  by  gradation,  one  color  changes  into 
another  in  nature. 


CHAPTER  VI 


HISTOKIC  COLOR 

TO  continue  our  color  study  we  must  next  ask 
what  has  been  done  with  it  in  the  past  and 
how  it  has  been  used  and  combined.  Our  knowl- 
edge would  be  incomplete  without  the  experience  of 
the  past.  The  simplest  and  easiest  way  will  be 
to  consult  the  Grammar  of  Ornament,  by  Owen 
Jones,  and  L' Ornement  Polychrome^  by  Racinet, 
the  two  best  books  of  the  kind,  remembering,  how- 
ever, that  there  are  several  editions  of  each,  varying 
in  the  quality  of  the  coloring  of  the  plates,  and  that 
even  the  best  of  these  do  not  succeed  in  thoroughly 
reproducing  the  rare  harmonies  of  color  attained 
in  the  pictures,  rugs,  pottery,  silks,  metal,  and 
jewel  work  that  served  as  models.  For  these  we 
must  turn  to  the  museums,  and  there  is  where  the 
real  lover  of,  and  worker  in,  color  must  go  for 
examples  of  the  most  skilful  use  of  color  by  man 
up  to  this  time.  To  many  of  them  age  has  helped 
to  give  the  great  charm  they  possess,  by  fading 
and  refining  the  colors  so  that  they  blend  more 
perfectly  with  each  other. 

107 


108 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


Unfortunately,  no  mention  is  made  in  the 
Grammar  of  Ornament  of  Japanese  color,  and 
Racinet  gives  but  small  space  to  it.  Since  the 
publication  of  these  books  we  have  become  familiar 
with  it  even  in  the  p>hop  windows.  We  must  bear 
in  mind,  however,  that  intercourse  with  western 
nations  and  the  increasing  demand  for  Japanese 
goods  is  already  lowering  their  artistic  standard, 
especially  as  they  are  making  many  goods  entirely 
for  western  markets,  so  that  for  their  best  work 
we  must  look  for  old  specimens  made  when  Japan 
was  a  shut-in  nation.  As  a  whole,  nothing  finer 
can  be  found.  For  pure  coloring,  for  the  most 
complex  and  happiest  combinations,  they  have  no 
equals.  Thorough  study  of  these  is  one  of  the 
best  schools  for  designers.  The  Japanese  them- 
selves are  taught  by  being  made  to  copy  the  best 
old  works. 

The  Japanese  love  of  color  and  their  sense  of 
fitness  went  so  far  that  they  even  changed  the 
ornaments  of  their  rooms  with  the  changing 
seasons.  Nay,  more,  their  women  wore  garments 
of  which  the  embroidery  harmonized  with  the 
different  months :  cherry,  apple,  pear  blossoms 
when  the  fruit  trees  bloomed,  colored  leaves  in  the 
autumn,  and  so  on,  keeping  in  tune  with  the  year, 
and  getting  great  enjoyment  out  of  things  too 
little  thought  of  by  us. 


VI 


HISTORIC  COLOR 


109 


At  this  point  in  his  course  the  student  will  be 
wise  to  bear  four  things  in  mind:  First,  that  as 
this  is  the  study  of  color,  not  form,  he  should  con- 
fine his  attention  to  the  colors  as  far  as  possible, 
as  a  fine  design  may  tend  to  warp  the  judgment 
of  them.  Secondly,  that  different  lights  may 
vary  what  is  really  the  same  color.  Thirdly,  that 
if  he  isolates  one  color  from  another  by  means  of 
such  a  card  with  a  small  opening  in  it  as  is  to  be 
found  with  the  color  screens  at  the  end  of  this 
book,  he  will  be  greatly  helped  to  understand  it. 
Fourthly,  that  he  should  pay  special  attention  to 
the  proportions  of  the  colors. 

The  following  plates  have  been  taken  from  speci- 
mens of  color  of  different  nations,  and  are  given  in 
simple  proportions  of  quality  and  quantity,  the 
latter  in  one-hundredths,  as  nearly  as  it  is  possible 
to  measure,  when  the  design  may  be  much  compli- 
cated and  broken  up.  In  studying  these  with  ref- 
erence to  making  the  plates,  it  has  seemed  prob- 
able that  those  who  made  them  took  their  color  in 
many  instances  directly  from  nature  ;  as,  for  in- 
stance, Plate  LIV  reminds  one  of  the  qualities 
and  quantities  of  color  of  a  gayly  feathered  parrot. 
It  is  hoped  that  these  plates  may  help  to  create 
a  taste  for  hard  study  of  whatever  originals  may 
be  at  hand  in  books,  shops,  private  houses,  or 
museums. 


110  COLOR  PROBLEMS  ch.  vi 

Plate  LXXXIV  is  a  drawing  of  the  antique  rug 
from  which  Plate  LXXXV  is  reduced.  By  com- 
parison the  student  will  see  how  these  and  the 
other  plates  have  been  made. 


CHAPTER  VII 


NATURE  COLOR 

"  A  ND  you,  painter,  who  are  desirous  of  great 
practice,  understand  that  if  you  do  not 
rest  it  on  the  good  foundation  of  Nature,  you  will 
labor  with  little  honor  and  less  profit ;  and  if  you 
do  it  on  a  good  ground,  your  works  will  be  many 
and  good,  to  your  great  honor  and  advantage. 

A  painter  ought  to  study  universal  Nature,  and 
reason  much  within  himself  on  all  he  sees,  making 
use  of  the  most  excellent  parts  that  compose  the 
species  of  every  object  before  him.  His  mind  will 
by  this  method  be  like  a  mirror,  reflecting  truly 
every  object  placed  before  it,  and  become,  as  it 
were,  a  second  nature." 

From  the  Treatise  on  Fainting,  by  Leonardo  da 
Vinci,  we  copy  the  above  passages.  May  they 
serve  as  an  introduction  to  the  next  branch  of  our 
color  study,  and  prove  a  stimulus  of  the  highest 
kind  not  only  to  painters,  but  to  other  artists. 
This  final  step  in  our  study  leads  us  to  Nature,  a 
step  easy  to  make,  but  once  made,  it  places  us  in 
a  school  as  vast  as  it  is  great,  and  in  one  which  we 
should  never  leave.    Until  our  attention  is  called 

lU 


112 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


to  it,  we  are  unconscious  what  apparently  unprom- 
ising material  may  yield  new  and  beautiful  motives 
for  color-harmonies. 

We  do  not  sufficiently  study  from  nature  ;  we 
ought  to  draw  and  study  vegetable  forms,  shells, 
fishes,  birds,  beasts.  A  continual  use  of  your  note- 
book should  enable  you  to  lay  up  an  inexhaustible 
store  of  artistic  materials  and  suggestions.  .  .  . 
Then,  again,  the  study  of  the  arrangement  of  color 
of  natural  objects  is  almost  entirely  ignored ;  yet 
how  pregnant  would  it  be  with  the  most  valuable 
and  original  suggestions.  There  is  hardly  any- 
thing in  nature  that  is  not  perfect  in  color.  A 
dead  sparrow  would  enable  you  to  arrange  the 
marquetrie  of  a  cabinet  with  faultless  harmony. 
Then,  again,  the  varied  tints  of  any  color  in  light, 
shade,  and  half  tint  are  always  harmonious.  The 
gradations  of  color  in  a  flower,  if  properly  studied, 
would  teach  a  lady  to  dress  with  a  taste  that 
would  be  the  envy  of  her  sex.  That  dress  is  not, 
more  than  it  is,  the  study  and  recognized  province 
of  an  artist,  is  a  matter  of  wonder."^ 

Following  closely  upon  this  advice  of  Mr. 
Moody,  an  artist  tells  us  that  in  Algiers  he  has 
seen  the  Arab  girls  working  the  beautiful  em- 
broideries so  much  admired  with  boxes  of  butter- 
flies beside  them,  that  from  their  harmonious 
blending  of  colors  they  may  gain  fresh  enthusiasm 

1  Lectures  and  Lessons  on  Art.    F.  W.  Moody.   P.  13L 


VII 


NATURE  COLOR 


113 


and  inspiration  for  their  work.  Those  who  are 
not  privileged  to  go  to  foreign  lands  in  search  of 
color  motives  can  find  them  in  our  own  country, 
and  those  who  can  leave  the  city's  walls  for  but  a 
day's  holiday  may  find  in  the  suburbs  much  that 
is  new  and  helpful.  Why  not  make  excursions 
for  the  purpose  ?  A  color  hunt  would  surely  be  as 
cheap  and  harmless  as  it  would  be  enjoyable  and 
helpful.  In  New  York  City  itself ,  the  Museum  of 
Natural  History  holds  case  upon  case  of  birds, 
butterflies,  shells,  and  minerals  that  can  give  an 
infinite  number  of  novel  motives,  the  florists' 
shops  contain  many  more,  and,  if  one  keeps  his 
eyes  about  him,  even  in  the  street  he  may  meet 
with  good  and  unexpected  combinations,  as,  for 
instance,  Plate  C,  which  is  from  the  flange  of  a 
.propeller,  of  which  the  discoloration  of  the  metal 
gave  a  fine  color  motive. 

The  Japanese  have  always  been  distinguished 
for  their  intense  sympathy  with  nature,  and  we 
find  that  a  large  part  of  the  enjoyment  of  their 
lives  the  year  round  comes  from  their  constant 
study  and  observation  of  nature,  the  result,  of 
course,  showing  itself  in  their  art. 

Condor    says,    in    The    Flowers    of  Japan, 
Flower-viewing  excursions,  together  with  such 
pastimes    as    shell-gathering,  mushroom-picking, 
and  moon-viewing,  form  the  favorite  occupations 
of  the  holiday  seeker  throughout  the  year,"  and 


114 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH.  VII 


Snow-viewing  is  included  as  one  of  the  flower 
festivals  of  the  year." 

One  caution  must  be  given  to  those  looking  to 
nature  for  color  motives,  which  is  this :  to  make 
allowance  for  the  modifications  of  form,  contrast, 
composition,  gradation,  and  atmosphere  which 
may  deceive  us  as  to  the  true  color  of  our  object. 
It  can  be  more  truly  judged  by  being  looked  at 
through  a  card  with  an  opening  in  it,  which  thus 
isolates  it  from  the  adjoining  colors.  We  should 
be  cautious  in  basing  our  conclusions  even  on 
observations  made  directly  from  nature  itself ; 
for  here  our  judgment  is  liable  to  be  warped  by 
the  presence  of  beautiful  form,  good  composition, 
exquisite  gradation,  and  high  luminosity."  ^  A 
few  plates  made  directly  from  nature  are  given,  not 
for  the  sake  of  the  imitation,  but  to  suggest  some 
of  the  many  directions  in  which  to  look  for  fresh 
inspiration  in  color-designing. 

Students  in  art  and  science  are  constantly 
bidden  to  go  to  nature  for  the  abundant  secrets 
she  is  ready  to  reveal  to  those  who  seek  and  prize 
them,  and  why  should  not  workers  in  simpler,  if 
not  lower,  occupations,  be  sent  to  the  same  source, 
which  is  so  bountiful  as  to  contain  something  for 
every  one,  and  so,  profiting  by  her  fulness,  learn 
at  the  same  time  to  find  contentment  and  joy  in 
their  work  ? 

iRood. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


SPECIAL  SUGGESTIONS 


FTER  having  carried  the  study  of  color  as 


-^^J^  far  as  the  limits  of  our  plan  allow,  a  few 
simple,  practical  suggestions  may  not  come  amiss. 

Students  of  painting  and  design  will  find  Rood's 
many  experiments  with  colors  in  his  Modern 
Chromatics  minute  and  valuable,  especially  those 
on  the  effects  of  mixing  paints  and  their  conse- 
quent loss  of  luminosity.  If  their  time  for  the 
scientific  study  of  color  be  limited,  Colour,  by 
Church,  is  well  adapted  for  their  purpose,  being 
small,  clear,  and  admirably  illustrated.  It  gives 
briefly  the  gist  of  what  has  been  written  heretofore 
on  the  subject. 

Burnet,  in  Colour  in  Painting,  is  helpful  on  the 
artistic  side.  He  says,  "  Harmony  arising  from 
the  reflection  of  one  color  upon  the  adjoining,  so 
as  to  produce  a  blending  and  union  of  the  several 
hues,  has  been  practised  with  the  greatest  success 
by  many  of  the  Dutch  school,  producing  a  chain 
of  connections  between  the  two  extremes  of  hot 
and  cold." 

As  to  materials  for  painting,  Church's  Chem- 


115 


116 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


istry  of  Paints  and  Painting  gives  much  useful 
information  as  to  their  substance,  permanence, 
adulteration,  and  effect  upon  one  another.  Recol- 
lecting, as  we  do  from  experiments  with  Maxwell's 
disks,  that  neutral  colors  are  simply  any  one  of  the 
six  colors  diluted  or  changed  by  black  or  white,  or 
black  and  white,  or  other  colors,  it  is  interesting 
to  know  that  an  ingeniously  illustrated  book,  pub- 
lished in  Paris  by  E.  Guichard,  La  Grammaire 
de  la  Couleur,  gives  abundant  examples  of  neutral 
colors,  and  printed  beside  them  samples  of  the 
colors  of  which  they  are  made.  The  author  suggests 
that  in  embroidery  any  of  these  combinations  can 
be  made  by  twisting  together  threads  of  each  of 
the  colors  required  to  make  the  neutral  color,  as 
by  Plates  CXVI  and  CXVII. 

In  the  matter  of  the  choice  of  draperies  and  any 
kind  of  still  life  to  be  used  to  paint  from,  one  of 
our  leading  artists  advised  his  pupils  generally  to 
select  old  things  as  being  usually  finer  than  new 
ones,  because  age  mellows  and  refines  colors ;  and 
also  that  objects  of  one  country  harmonize  better 
with  each  other  than  those  of  different  countries, 
and  those  of  one  jperiod  of  one  country  still  better. 

Florists,  gardeners,  and  fruit-dealers  will  find  a 
large  part  of  Chevreul's  book  devoted  to  color  as 
applied  to  horticulture,  with  notes  of  his  experi- 
ments in  the  arrangement  of  plants  and  flowers. 


VIII 


SPECIAL  SUGGESTIONS 


117 


While  other  nations  love  flowers  and  use  and 
cultivate  them,  the  Japanese,  along  with  their 
great  skill  in  growing  them,  have  elaborated  an 
art  of  arranging  them,  of  which  art  a  full  and  clear 
account,  admirably  illustrated,  is  given  in  The 
Flowers  of  Japan,  and  the  Art  of  Floral  Arrange- 
ment, a  recent  work  published  in  Tokio.  Many 
features  of  this  art  are  very  attractive,  and  much 
can  be  learned  from  them  even  if  we  do  not  wish  to 
carry  it  to  the  same  extent  of  form  and  ceremony. 
They  make  much  of  common  flowers,  and  while 
our  admiration  is  mainly  given  to  the  blossoms, 
they  value  every  part  of  the  plant,  using  stem, 
leaf,  and  bud  in  their  arrangements  so  as  to  display 
each  to  advantage,  with  the  flower  as  the  crowning 
beauty  of  the  whole.  The  author  writes,  "  The 
arrangement  of  flowers  has  always  been  regarded 
in  Japan  as  an  occupation  befitting  learned  men 
and  literati.  Ladies  of  the  aristocracy  have  prac- 
tised it,  as  they  have  other  arts,  but  it  is  by  no 
means  considered  as  an  efleminate  accomplishment. 
Priests,  philosophers,  and  men  of  rank  who  have 
retired  from  public  life  have  been  its  most  enthusi- 
astic followers.  Various  virtues  are  attributed  to 
professors  of  the  art,  who  are  considered  to  belong 
to  a  sort  of  aristocracy  of  talent,  enjoying  privileges 
of  rank  and  precedence  in  society  to  which  they 
are  not  by  birth  entitled.    A  religious  spirit,  self- 


118 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


denial,  gentleness,  and  forgetfulness  of  cares  are 
some  of  the  virtues  said  to  follow  from  a  habitual 
practice  of  the  art  of  arrangement  of  flowers." 

The  fact  that  flowers  usually  make  a  focus 
wherever  they  may  be  placed,  —  on  a  table,  in  a 
room,  or  in  a  landscape, — on  account  of  their  com- 
parative purity  and  luminosity  of  color,  increases 
their  beauty  and  shows  the  skill  of  the  person  who 
arranges  them,  but  there  is  also  a  corresponding 
disadvantage  that  if  discord  there  be,  the  arrange- 
ment is  all  the  more  prominent,  the  eye  being 
called  to  it  immediately. 

While  we  speak  of  the  "  comparative  purity  and 
luminosity  "  of  colors  we  may  at  the  same  time 
quote  from  one  of  a  series  of  interesting  articles  by 
F.  Schuyler  Matthews  :  ^ 

"  Even  our  anxiety  to  obtain  definite  names 
for  definite  colors  is  completely  overshadowed  by 
the  stronger  wish  to  understand  the  secret  of  their 
harmonious  relationship. 

"  Now  let  us  try  to  discover  if  we  can  some  small 
portion  of  this  secret.  Why  is  it  that  nature 
nearly  always  puts  yellow  stamens  in  her  white 
flowers  ?  Why  is  it  that  nearly  all  of  her  white 
flowers  are  not  colorless  pure  white  ?  Why  is  it 
difficult  for  us  to  find  a  positively  blue  or  posi- 
tively yellow  flower  ?    What  is  the  reason  that 

1  Floral  Art  of  Japan.   By  Condor.  -pyji  American  Florist. 


vra  SPECIAL  SUGGESTIONS  119 

there  is  such  a  multitude,  such  an  infinity  of  color 
tones  in  the  flowers,  on  the  earth,  over  the  sea, 
in  the  sky,  everywhere  ?  What  a  perplexing, 
changeable,  evasive  thing  the  whole  world  of  color 
is  !  What  is  the  reason  of  it  all  ?  Simply  this : 
Nature  abhors  the  commonplace  —  she  despises 
crude  red,  yellow,  and  blue.  Variety  she  will  have ; 
harmony  she  insists  upon;  positivism  she  only 
employs  to  emphasize  her  love  of  the  infinite. 
Thus  we  have  one  rather  questionably  perfect 
yellow  marigold  and  a  dozen  others  which  have 
more  orange  in  them  than  yellow ;  one  scarlet- 
lake  colored  gladiolus  and  an  infinity  of  red  roses, 
which  cannot  be  called  anything  which  is  an  ap- 
proach to  the  pure  red  color  which  scarlet-lake 
nearest  resembles.  We  have  the ,  forget-me-not, 
which  is  nearly  a  true  blue,  but  we  have  a  host 
of  so-called  blue  flowers,  every  one  of  which 
has  barely  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  true  sky  blue  in  its 
composition." 

It  seems  as  though  in  the  face  of  these  facts  it 
would  be  hardly  possible  to  designate  any  special 
flowers  which  possess  the  prismatic  colors  in  an 
absolutely  pure  form. 

The  rules  for  making  harmonies  can  be  made  to 
apply  to  the  arrangements  of  gardens,  shop  win- 
dows, bouquets  and  other  decorations,  as  well  as 
to  the  catalogues  of  florists,  etc.    A  recently  issued 


120 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH. 


catalogue  strikes  a  true  color  chord  in  its  cover. 
It  shows  a  bunch  of  sweet  peas  and  leaves  of 
agreeable  colors  well  balanced  by  the  background 
of  pale  neutralized  green,  thus  making  a  true  and 
tempting  harmony  to  lovers  of  flowers  and  color. 

Salesmen  and  women  would  be  helped  in  their 
line  of  work  by  studying  particularly  the  qualities 
of  colors,  and  the  effect  on  them  of  different  kinds 
of  artificial  light.  Knowledge  of  the  contrasts  of 
color  will  help  greatly  in  showing  goods  to  advan- 
tage, as  one  color  may  be  made  to  heighten  the 
color  of  another,  and  counters  and  shop  windows 
may  be  well  arranged  according  to  the  rules  given 
for  different  classes  of  harmonies. 

■  Women  in  their  dress,  embroidery,  and  house 
decorations  have  immense  opportunities ;  no  art  is 
finer  or  higher  for  a  woman  however  placed  than 
that  of  being  a  harmonious  whole  herself,  and  of 
making  or  adding  to  a  harmonious  home,  in  which 
the  unconscious  influence  of  good  color  holds  a 
large  share.  To  do  this  it  must  not  be  thought 
that  much  money  is  necessary  ;  it  adds,  of  course, 
to  the  ability  of  choice  among  fine  goods,  but 
cheap  materials  of  good  colors  wisely  combined 
may  produce  a  far  happier,  we  may  even  say 
healthier,  result,  than  an  unlimited  purse  without 
knowledge  and  taste.  This  is  difficult  to  over- 
estimate.   No  woman  has  a  right  to  .say  she  has 


vni 


SPECIAL  SUGGESTIONS 


121 


no  influence,  conscious  or  unconscious,  on  the  world 
around  her.  Does  not  much  of  the  influence  for 
good  or  ill  come  from  a  woman's  dress  ?  It  may 
be  cheap,  it  may  be  plain,  but  it  should  be,  and 
can  be,  in  good  taste  and  in  harmony  with  the 
character  and  position  of  the  person  who  wears  it, 
and  knowledge  of  one's  own  coloring  and  of  that 
suited  to  it  is  one  of  the  most  important  details. 

Women  in  their  dress,  milliners  and  dress- 
makers, would  do  well  to  realize  that  a  dress  or 
bonnet  may  be  good  in  color  in  itself,  when  it  is  a 
whole,  but  when  worn  it  becomes  only  part  of  a 
whole  and  will  be  harmonious  and  becoming,  or 
inharmonious  and  unbecoming,  as  it  does,  or  does 
not,  suit  the  coloring  of  the  wearer.  To  wear 
anything  simply  because  it  is  beautiful  is  unwise; 
it  should  first  of  all  be  suitable.  Study  of  the  law 
of  contrast  of  color  will  here  help  immensely. 

For  instance,  according  to  that  law,  red  and 
yellow  next  to  each  other  make  the  yellow  seem 
more  yellow,  the  red  more  red,  so  if  a  woman  with 
a  sallow,  colorless  complexion  wears  pink  roses  or 
pink  ribbons,  the  yellow  in  her  skin  is  intensified 
and  the  small  amount  of  pink  in  her  cheeks  is 
lost.  As  blue  is  the  complement  of  yellow,  a 
bright  blue  will  have  a  still  worse  effect,  but  let 
her  try  a  shade  of  not  too  intense  yellow  ;  the  skin 
will  seem  to  lose  its  yellow,  and  whatever  pink 


122 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


CH.  VIII 


there  may  be  will  be  brought  out  by  the  contrast. 
So  other  peculiarities  may  be  softened  or  increased 
by  contrast  or  harmony  of  color.  White  hair  is 
made  to  seem  whiter  by  the  contrast  of  black  or  a 
very  dark  color;  black  hair  and  rosy  cheeks  are 
made  more  brilliant  by  a  white  surrounding ;  deli- 
cate blonde  coloring  will  be  made  insipid  and  color- 
less by  too  strong  colors,  and  a  plain  face  may  be 
made  attractive  by  surrounding  it  with  harmoniz- 
ing coloring. 


• 


APPENDICES 


APPENDIX  A 


DEFINITIONS 

ABSOLUTE  COLORS  :  see  Local  Colors. 

ADVANCING-    COLORS:    those   of    the   longer  wave 

lengths ;  those  that  seem  to  come  forward ;  but  each 

color  only  advances  or  recedes  according  to  its  relation 

to  some  other  color.    See  Luminosity. 
ANALOGOUS  HARMONY:  see  Harmony. 
BEAM  OF  LIGHT :  a  linear  portion  *  of  light  made  of 

a  number  of  rays. 
BRIGHTNESS  :  see  Luminosity. 

BROKEN  COLOR:  a  color  changed  by  the  addition  of 
black  and  white  or  gray. 

COLD  COLORS :  those  of  the  shorter  wave  lengths,  such 
as  green,  blue,  and  violet. 

COLOR :  an  internal  sensation,  produced  by  various 
causes,  chiefly  by  waves  of  incomplete  light  acting 
on  the  eye;  as  used  by  artists,  the  rich,  harmonious 
effect,  or  full  appearance  produced  by  certain  com- 
binations of  colors. 

COLOR  CHART :  a  systematic  arrangement  of  colors  in 
a  geometrical  design  such  that  every  variation  and 


*  Note.  —  "A  streak  of  light."  —  Rood. 
125 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


combination  of  hue,  tint,  and  shade  is  in  its  proper 
place  and  in  correct  relation  to  all  other  hues,  tints, 
and  shades. 


Advancing 

Colors, 

see  under  Advancing ; 

Bright 

(( 

(( 

a 

Brightness ; 

Broken 

a 

a 

a 

Broken ; 

Cold 

i( 

(( 

li 

Cold; 

Complementary 

(( 

li 

li 

Complement 

Complements  of 

(( 

(( 

11 

11 

Constants 

a 

u 

li 

Constants ; 

Contrast  " 

(( 

u 

i. 

Contrast ; 

Harmony 

(( 

li 

11 

Harmony ; 

Hue  " 

u 

a 

li 

Hue  ; 

Intense 

(( 

a 

li 

Saturated ; 

Local 

u 

a 

Local ; 

Luminosity 

« 

li 

li 

Brightness ; 

Luminous 

(( 

li 

li 

Luminous ; 

Neutral 

(( 

11 

li 

Neutral ; 

Normal 

<( 

a 

li 

Normal ; 

Opaque 

(( 

11 

Opaque ; 

Pigment 

li 

11 

11 

Pigment ; 

Primary 

(( 

11 

u 

Primary ; 

Prismatic 

u 

11 

a 

Prismatic ; 

Pure 

(( 

li 

Pure  ; 

Quality  of 

(( 

11 

li 

Constants ; 

Saturated 

(( 

li 

Saturated ; 

Secondary 

u 

11 

11 

Secondary ; 

Spectral 

(( 

(I 

a 

Normal ; 

APPENDIX  A 


127 


Tertiary 
Transparent 
Value  of 
Warm 


Colors,  see  under  Tertiary  ; 


Transparent ; 
Values ; 
Warm. 


COMPLEMENTS  or 

COMPLEMENTARY  COLORS  :  any  color  and  the  color 
of  its  after-image ;  any  two  colors  which,  when  mixed 
make  white. 

COMPOUND  or  MIXED  COLOR :  a  color  changed  or 
neutralized  by  the  addition  of  another  color  or  colors. 

CONSTANTS  or  QUALITIES  OF  COLORS :  Hue,  Pur- 
ity, and  Luminosity. 

CONTRAST  :  see  Simultaneous  Contrast,  page  53. 

CONTRASTED  HARMONY:  see  Harmony. 

DIFFRACTION  GRATING:  a  polished  metal  or  brass 
surface  ruled  with  fine  lines  and  used  instead  of  a 
prism  to  divide  a  ray  of  light  and  produce  a  spec- 
trum. 

DOMINANT  HARMONY:  see  Harmony. 
DOMINANT  HUE  :  see  Hue. 

HARMONY :  the  pleasing  effect  due  to  the  action  upon 
each  other  of  colors  improved  and  made  more  beau- 
tiful by  being  put  together ;  such  an  agreement  be- 
tween the  different  hues,  tints,  or  shades  of  a  design 
as  will  produce  unity  of  effect. 
Analogous   Harmony:    an     agreeable    combination  of 

colors  that  are  related  to  a  fundamental  color. 
Complex  Harmony :  an  agreeable  combination  of  three 


128 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


or  more  colors,  or  with  the  addition  of  black  or 
white,  or  gray,  or  gold,  or  silver,  or  any  or  all  of 
them. 

Contrasted  or  Complementary  Harmony:  an  agreeable 
combination  of  any  pair  of  complementary  colors,  or 
of  their  tints  or  shades,  or  tints  and  shades. 

Dominant  Harmony :  an  agreeable  combination  of  colors 
in  which  one  color  predominates  by  modifying  all 
the  other  colors,  by  serving  as  a  ground,  or  by  being 
added  in  small  portions  all  over  the  design. 

One-color  Harmony^  also  called  a  Harmony  of  Self -tones : 
an  agreeable  combination  of  one  color  used  in  tints 
or  shades,  or  tints  and  shades,  or  hue  and  tints,  or 
hue  and  shades,  or  hue,  tints,  and  shades. 
HUE :  color,  by  wave  length,  much  the  same  as  color ; 
the  chief  quality  by  which  one  color  differs  from  an- 
other color,  as  red  differs  from  blue  or  green. 

Dominant  Hue :  the  hue  which  predominates  through 
the  larger  part  of  a  design  or  composition. 
INTENSE:  see  Saturated. 

LIGHT  :  the  chief  agent  that  produces  vision. 

LOCAL  COLOR:  the  actual  color  of  an  object  unaffected 

by  shadows  or  reflected  lights. 
LUMINOSITY  :  the  strength  of  the  light  sent  to  the  eye 

by  any  color ;  a  luminous  color  sends  more  than  a 

non-luminous  one. 
LUMINOUS  COLORS :  those  which  reflect  light  in  large 

quantities;  the  colors  of  the  long  wave  lengths  are 

more  luminous  than  those  of  the  short  ones. 


APPENDIX  A 


129 


NEUTRAL  COLORS:  ca  term  often  incorrectly  applied 

to  black,  white,  gray,  gold,  and  silver. 
NORMAL,  SPECTRAL,  PRIMITIVE,  or  PRISMATIC 

COLORS  :  those  seen  in  the  rainbow  and  the  solar 

spectrum  are  generally  accepted  as  such  and  are  used 

as  the  standard  for  the  study  of  colors.  Pigment 

colors  can  only  imitate  these  colors  imperfectly. 
OIL  COLORS  :  pigments  ground  in  oil. 
OPAQUE  COLORS :  pigment  colors  which  are  so  thick 

that  x:>aper  or  canvas  cannot"  be  seen  through  them. 
PIGMENTS :    materials  from  which  paints,  inks,  dyes, 

and  stains  are  made. 
PIGMENT  COLORS  :  paints,  inks,  dyes,  and  stains  used 

in  the  tine  and  industrial  arts. 
PRIMARY  COLORS:  red,  blue,  and  yellow;  so  called 

because  it  was  supposed  that  all  other  colors  could 

be  made  from  them. 
PRIMITIVE  COLORS :  see  Normal  Colors. 
PRISM :  a  triangular  or  three-sided  bar  of  clear  glass. 
PRISMATIC  COLORS:  those  that  appear  when  a  ray 

of  white  light  shines  through  a  prism.    See  Normal 

Colors. 

PURE  COLORS  :  those  unmixed  with  white  light  or  any 

other  color ;  those  of  the  spectrum. 
PURITY  OF  COLORS :  the  absence  of  an  admixture  of 

any  other  color  or  colors,  or  white  or  black. 
QUALITIES  OF  COLORS  :  see  Constants  of  Colors. 
RAY  OF  LIGHT :  a  small  linear  portion  or  streak  of 

light  which  may  be  white  or  any  color. 


130 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


RECEDmG  COLORS  :  those  which  seem  to  retire  or 
recede  from  the  eye ;  those  of  the  short  wave  lengths. 

RETINA:  a  thin  inner  lining  of  the  eye.    See  page  20. 

SATURATED  or  INTENSE  COLORS:  colors  that  are 
pure  and  luminous  to  their  greatest  extent;  without 
any  mixture  of  white  light. 

SECONDARY  COLORS:  orange,  green,  and  violet;  so 
called  because  it  has  been  thought  they  were  made 
from  combinations  of  the  primary  colors. 

SELF-TONES:  see  Tone. 

SHADE  :  a  tone  of  a  color  darkened  by  the  addition  of 
black  pigments  to  paints,  inks,  dyes,  and  stains,  or  by 
the  action  of  diminished  light  on  immaterial  colors. 

SHADOW :  about  the  same  as  shade,  as  generally  used, 
but  for  the  sake  of  clearness  it  is  best  to  designate  by 
shadow  those  parts  of  an  object  which  do  not  receive 
any  direct  rays  of  light,  while  those  surfaces  which  re- 
ceive but  little  direct  light,  and  are  thus  intermediate 
in  value  between  the  light  and  the  shadow,  are  called 
shade  surfaces.  Then  the  term  cast-shadoiv  denotes  the 
shadow  projected  by  one  body  on  another  body  or 
surface. 

SOLAR  SPECTRUM  :  see  Spectrum. 

SPECTRAL  COLORS  :  see  Normal  Colors. 

SPECTRUM :  the  result  of  the  decomposition  of  a  ray  of 
sunlight  into  all  the  colors  which  form  it ;  the  streak 
of  colors  formed  by  a  ray  of  light  that  has  passed 
through  a  prism  or  over  a  Diffraction  Grating. 

STANDARD  COLORS  :  those  of  the  spectrum. 


APPENDIX  A 


TERTIARY  COLORS :  citrine,  olive,  and  russet,  so  called 
because  it  has  been  thought  that  they  were  made  from 
combinations  of  the  secondary  colors. 

TINT  :  a  tone  of  a  color  produced  by  the  addition  of  white  to 
oil,  water  to  water,  and  white  light  to  immaterial  colors. 

TONE :  the  given  state  of  a  color  as  it  may  be  pure,  lu- 
minous, broken,  compound,  a  tint,  or  a  shade. 
Self-tones:  tones  of  the  same  color. 

TRANSPARENT  COLORS:  those  in  which  the  color 
tints  the  paper  or  canvas,  which  shows  through  the 
color,  thus  helping  to  produce  the  effect. 

VALUES :  the  relative  amount  of  light  contained  in  the 
different  colors  of  a  picture,  design,  or  composition ; 
the  lightest  or  most  luminous  being  called  the  high- 
est in  value. 

WARM  COLORS  :  those  of  the  longer  wave  lengths,  as 

yellow,  orange,  and  red. 
WATER  COLORS  :  pigments  prepared  to  be  used  with 

water. 

WAVE  LENGTHS  OF  COLORS  :  objects  having  no  color 
in  themselves  possess  the  power  of  reflecting  waves  of 
light ;  waves  of  light  of  varying  lengths  give  us  the 
effect  of  color.  Either  the  amount  of  motion  of  the 
ether,  or  height  of  the  wave,  produces  the  intensity 
or  brightness  of  the  light,  and  the  length  of  the 
wave  produces  the  color ;  red  has  a  wave  length  of 
about  2  5oJoVo°ooo  of  an  inch,  orange  2  5ofoVo%ooj  yellow 

2  5ofoVo^OOOj    U^'^en    250foVo^,00Oj  ^^^^^    2  5  0.V/o\OOOj  aud  vioUt 

^4  0_5_9_- 
23  0.0  0  0.0  0  0' 


APPEraiX  B 


S  whatever  may  be  of  value  in  this  little 


-^-^  work  on  a  theme  so  large  and  complex  as 
color  must  of  necessity  be  drawn  largely  from 
what  has  been  written  before,  the  following  list  of 
books  and  authors  is  given,  partly  as  having  been 
referred  to  during  its  preparation,  and  partly  as  a 
suggestion  for  further  reading  to  any  student  of 
color  who  can  afford  the  time  and  labor  necessary 
to  the  acquisition  of  a  larger  and  wider  compre- 
hension of  a  subject  which  can  be  treated  only 
scantily  enough  within  the  scope  of  a  single  small 
volvime. 

Although  no  pretence  is  here  made  to  complete- 
ness as  bibliography,  yet  it  is  believed  that  the 
fifty  works  enumerated  below  fairly  cover  the 
history  of  color  and  of  its  ever-growing  relation 
to  Art  and  Manufacture.  For  the  sake  of  con- 
venience the  list  is  chronologically  arranged. 


133 


134 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


A  Treatise  on  Painting.    By  Leonardo  da  Yinci.  (Lon- 
don, 1835:  Nichols  &  Sons.)  (Translation.) 
Colour.    By  M.  E.  Chevreul.    (London,  1839 :  Geo.  Bell 

&  Sons.)  (Translation.) 
Theory  of  Colour.    By  J.  W.  von  Goethe.  (London, 

1840 :  J.  Murray.)    (Translation,  with  notes,  by  Sir 

Chas.  Eastlake.) 
Rudiments  of  the  Painter's  Art  ;  or  a  Grammar  of 

Colouring.  By  George  Field.  (London,  1850  :  Weale.) 
Darstellung  der  Fabbenlehre  und  optische  Studien. 

By  W.  H.  Dove.    (Berlin,  1853.) 
Researches    on    Colour-blindness.     By    G.  Wilson. 

(Edinb.,  1855:  Sutherland  &  Knox.) 
Grammar  OF  Ornament.  By  Owen  Jones.  (London,  1856.) 
On  Colour  (etc.).    By  Sir  J.  S.  Wilkinson.  (London, 

1858  :  J.  Murray.) 
Die  Farbenharmonie  in  ihrer  Anwendung  auf  die 

Damentoilette.    By  R.  Adams.    (Leipzig,  1862:  J. 

J.  Weber.) 

Practical  Hints  on  Colour  in  Painting.    By  John 

Burnet.    (London,  1865 :  J.  &  J.  Leighton.) 
Des  Couleurs  au  Point  de  Vue  Physique,  Physiolo- 

GiQUE,  Artistique  et  Industriel.  By  Ernst  Bruecke. 

(Paris,  1866 :  J.  B.  Bailliere  &  fils.) 
The  Principles  of  the  Science  of  Colour.    By  William 

Benson.    (London,  1868  :  Chapman  &  Hall.) 
Color.    By  M.  E.  Cave,    (i^ew  York,  1869.)  (Translation.) 
Manual  of  the  Science  of  Colour.    By  W.  Benson. 

(London,  1871 :  Chapman  &  Hall.) 


APPENDIX  B 


135 


The  Theory  of  Colouring.  By  J.  Bacon.  (London, 
1872  :  G.  Rowney  &  Company.) 

L'Ornement  Polychrome.  By  A.  Racinet.  2  vols.  F°. 
(Paris,  1873-86  :  Firmin  Didot.) 

A  Grammar  of  Colouring  applied  to  Decorative 
Painting  and  the  Arts.  By  George  Field.  (Lon- 
don, 1875  :  Lockwood  &  Company.) 

Theory  of  Color.  By  Dr.  Wilhelm  von  Bezold.  (Bos- 
ton, 1876  :  L.  Prang  &  Company.)  (Translation.) 

Die  geschichtliche  Entwickelung  des  Farbensinnes. 
By  Hugo  Magnus.    (Leipzig,  1877  :  Veit.) 

The  Principles  of  Light  and  Color.  By  E.  D.  Babbitt. 
(New  York,  1878  :  Babbitt  &  Company.) 

Complement  des  Etudes  sur  la  Vision  des  Couleurs 
PAR  E.  Chevreul.  By  M.  E.  Chevreul.  {In  Institut 
de  France.  Academie  des  Sciences  —  Memoires.  T.  41, 
partie  2.)    (Paris,  1879.)    (English  translations  exist.) 

Modern  Chromatics,  with  Application  to  Art  and 
Industry.  By  0.  K  Pvood.  (New  York,  1879:  D. 
Appleton.) 

The  Colour  Sense  :  its  Origin  and  Development.  By 
Grant  Allen.    (London,  1879 :  Triibner  &  Company.) 

Color  Blindness.    By  B.  Joy  Jeffries.    (London,  1879.) 

A  Handbook  for  Painters  and  Art  Students  on  the 
Character  and  Use  of  Colours.  By  W.  J.  Muck- 
ley.    (London,  1880  :  T.  &  C.  Bailliere.) 

Sight;  an  Exposition  of  Monocular  and  Binocular 
Vision.  By  Joseph  Le  Conte.  (New  York,  1881 :  D. 
Appleton  &  Company.) 


136 


COLOR  PROBLEMS 


Untersuchungen  uber  den  Farbencontrast  vermit- 

TELST  rotirender  Scheiben.    Bj  G.  B.  T.  Schmerler. 

(Leipzig,  1882 :  W.  Engelmann.) 
La  Grammaire  de  la  Couleur.   By  E.  Guichard.   3  vols. 

(Paris,  1882  :  H.  Cagiion.) 
Die  Farbenwelt.    By  Max  Schasler.    (Berlin,  1883 :  C. 

Habel.) 

The  Laws  of  Contrast  of  Colour  and  Their  Appli- 
cation TO  THE  Arts  and  Manufactures.  By  M.  E. 
Chevreul.    (London,  1883:  Routledge.)  (Translation.) 

Colour.  By  A.  H.  Church.  (London,  1887  :  Cassell  &  Com- 
pany.) 

Il  Libro  DEI  CoLORi.  Segreti  DEL  Secolo  XY.  Da  0. 
Guerrini  &  C.  Ricci.  (Bologna,  1887 :  Romagnoli  DalP 
Acqua.) 

Colour,  An  Elementary  Treatise.   By  C.  T.  Whitmell. 

(Cardiff,  1888 :  W.  Lewis.) 
F.   C.   Schroeder's   '^Systematic  Index."     By  F.  C. 

Schroeder.    (Boston,  1888  :  F.  C.  Schroeder.) 
Iris  :  Studies  in  Colour  and  Talks  about  Flowers. 

By  A.  F.  Dielitzsch.    (Edinburgh,  1889 :  T.  &  T.  Clark.) 

(Translation.) 

Repertoire    Chromatique.     By   Charles   La  Couture. 

(P^ris,  1890  :  Gauthier,  Villars  &  Fils.) 
The  Chemistry  of  Paints  and  Painting.    By  A.  H. 

Church.    (London,  1890  :  Seeley  &  Company.) 
Colour  in  Woven  Design.    By  E.  Beaumont.  (London, 

1890  :  Whittaker  &  Company.) 


APPENDIX  B 


137 


Colour-Blindness  and  Colour-Perception.  By  F.  W. 
Edridge  Green.  (London,  1891 :  Kegan  Paul,  Trench, 
Triibner  &  Company.) 

A  Text-Book  of  Physiology.  By  M.  Foster.  (London, 
1891 :  Macmillan  &  Company.) 

Flowers  of  Japan  and  the  Art  of  Floral  Arrange- 
ment. By  Condor.  (Yokohama,  1891 :  Kelly  & 
Walsh.) 

Colour  Measurement  and  Mixture.  By  W.  de  W. 
Abney.    (London,  1891.) 

Harmonious  Colouring.  3  vols.  F°.  By  C.  H.  Wilkin- 
son. (Manchester,  1891 :  Harmonious  Colouring  Com- 
pany.) 

Colour  Vision.    By  E.  Hunt.    (Glasgow,  1892  :  Smith.) 
On  a  Color  System.    By  0.  K.  Eood.    (New  Haven, 
1892.) 

Students'  Text-Book  of  Color  ;  or,  Modern  Chro- 
matics. By  0.  N.  Eood.  (New  York,  1892:  D. 
Appleton  &  Company.) 

Colour  Vision.  By  W.  de  W.  Abney.  (London,  1895; 
Low.) 

Color-Vision  and  Color-Blindness.   By  J.  E.  Jennings. 

(Phila.,  1896:  Davis  Company.) 
Colour  in  Nature.     A  Study  in  Biology.     By  M.  L 

JSTewbegin.   (London,  1898 :  J.  Murray.) 


Pi. ATE  I 


WOOLS   AS  SORTED  BY  A  COLOR-BLIND  MAN 


Plate  II 


A  No.  1  A  No.  2 


DifiEraction  Grating 

SOLAR  SPECTRA 


Plate  III 


TABLE  OF  SPECTRAL  COLORS 


Plate  IV 


(a)  In  their  order  of  Luminosity 

(b)  Pure  and  Grayed 


Plate  V 


ADVANCING  AND  RETIRING  COLORS 


Plate  VI 


TINTS 


Plate  VIII 


SHADES 


Plate  IX 


VIOLET 


with  its  extremes 


Plate  X 


BLUE 


with  its  extremes 


Plate  XI 


Plate  XII 


YELLOW 
with  its  extremes 


Plate  XIII 


ORANGE 


with  its  extremes 


Plate  XIV 


RED 


with  its  extremes 


Plate  XV 


SHADES  BY  CONTRAST 


Plate  XVI 


SPECTRAL  COLORS 
ON  BLACK,  WHITE  AND  GRAY 


Plate  XVII 


WHITE 
ON  SPECTRAL  COLORS 


Plate  XVIII 


BLACK 
ON  SPECTRAL  COLORS 


Plate  XIX 


GRAY 

ON  SPECTRAL  COLORS 


Plate  XX 


SPECTRAL  RED  WITH  ITS  COMPLEMENT 


N.  B.  The  blue-green  complementary  is  here  imitated 
as  closely  as  possible,  but  when  spontaneously  called  up  by 
the  eye  it  is  really  brighter  than  the  white  paper. 


Plate  XXI 


Gaze  steadily  at  the  red  disk  for  three  minutes,  cover  it 
quickly  with  the  preceding  blank  page  without  removing 
the  eyes  and  you  will  see  its  complementary  image. 


Plate  XXII 


SPECTRAL  RED  AND  ITS  COMPLEMENT,  BLUE- 
GREEN,  IN  THEIR  RELATIVE  PROPORTIONS 

The  gray  in  the  centre  of  this  Plate  is  the  gray  produced  by  the  above 
two  complements  when  mixed  on  a  color  wheel,  and  corresponds  exactly 
to  the  gray  produced  by  the  given  amounts  of  black  and  white. 

(N.  B.  The  above  proportions  were  obtained  in  an  average  light. 
Tjiey  will  vary  with  all  variations  in  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the 
illumination.   This  applies  as  well  to  the  following  four  Plates.) 


Plate  XXIII 


 "po  — 

9?  V     \     \    \     \     I    I    I    ,  Is" 


SPECTRAL  ORANGE  AND  ITS  COMPLEMENT, 
GREEN-BLUE,  IN  THEIR  RELATIVE 
PROPORTIONS 


The  gray  in  the  centre  of  this  Plate  is  the  gray  produced  by  the 
above  two  complements  when  mixed  on  a  color  wheel,  and  corresponds 
exactly  to  the  gray  produced  by  the  given  amounts  of  black  and  white. 

(N.  B.  The  above  proportions  were  obtained  in  an  average  light 
They  will  vary  with  all  variations  in  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the 


illumination.) 


Plate  XXIV 


SPECTRAL  YELLOW   AND  ITS  COMPLEMENT, 
SPECTRAL  BLUE, 

OR 

SPECTRAL  BLUE  AND  ITS  COMPLEMENT, 
SPECTRAL  YELLOW, 
IN  THEIR  RELATIVE  PROPORTIONS 


The  gray  m  the  centre  of  this  Plate  is  the  gray  produced  by  the 
above  two  complements  when  mixed  on  a  color  wheel,  and  corresponds 
exactly  to  the  gray  produced  by  the  given  amounts  of  black  and  v/hite. 

T,.  The  above  proportions  were  obtained  in  an  average  light, 

Ulumination*)^  variations  in  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the 


Plate  XXV 


SPECTRAL  GREEN  AND  ITS  COMPLEMENT, 
PURPLE,  IN   THEIR   RELATIVE  PROPORTIONS. 


The  gray  in  the  centre  of  this  plate  is  the  gray  produced  by  the  above 
two  complements  when  minced  on  a  color  wheel,  and  corresponds  exactly  to 
the  gray  produced  by  the  given  amounts  of  black  and  white. 

(N.  B.  The  above  proportions  were  obtained  in  an  average  light. 
They  will  vary  with  all  variations  in  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  illu- 
mination.) 


Plate  XXVI 


OS 


SPECTRAL  VIOLET  AND  ITS  COMPLEMENT. 
YELLOW-GREEN,  IN  THEIR  RELATIVE 
PROPORTIONS 


The  gray  in  the  centre  of  this  plate  is  the  gray  produced  by  the  above 
two  complements  when  mixed  on  a  color  wheel,  and  corresponds  exactly  to 
the  gray  produced  by  the  given  amounts  of  black  and  white. 

(N.  B.  The  above  proportions  were  obtained  in  an  average  light. 
They  will  vary  with  all  variations  in  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  illu- 
mination.) 


Plate  XXVII 


Plate  XXVIII 


Plate  XXIX 


TABLE  OF  COMPLEMENTS  ARRANGED  IN  A 
CIRCLE 


Platpj  XXX 


CONTRAST  DIAGRAM 


See  page  58.    Transparency  accompanying  the  volume  is 
for  use  with  this  plate. 


Plate  XXXI 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  PRIZE  DINNER 
TABLE 

A  harmony  of  yellow  and  blue. 


See  page  70. 


Plate  XXXIJ 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  TK/.CUP  AND  SAUCER 

Yellow  Tint  .  .65 

Yellow  Shade   5 

Blue  Tint  20 

Spectral  Blue  10 

100 


Plate  XXXIII 


COMPLEX 


Plate  XXXIV 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  OF  A  BOOK  ADVERTISEMENT 

White  60 

Black  22 

Yellow  18 

100 


Plate  XXXV 


Plate  XXXVI 


Spectral  Red  and  Spectral  Blue 


Spectral  Red  "  Green-Blue 


Orange-Red  "  Green-Blue 


Spectral  Orange  "  Green-Blue 


Spectral  Yellow  "  Spectral  Violet 


Green  Yellow  '*  Spectral  Violet 


GOOD  DYADS  OR 


PAIRS 


Plate  XXXVII 


Spectral 
Red 

Spectral 
Yellow 

Spectral 
Blue 

Purple 
Red 

Spectral 
Yellow 

Green- 
Blue 

Spectral 
Orange 

Spectral 
Green 

Spectral 
Violejt 

Spectral 
Orange 

Spectral 
Green 

Purple- 
Violet 

GOOD  TRIADS 

Plate  XXXVIII 


HARMONY  BY  GRADATION 


Plate  XXXIX 


HARMONY  BY  CHANGE  OF  QUALITY 
(In  the  yellow.) 


Plate  XL 


HARMONY  BY  CHANGE  OF  QUANTITY 


Plate  XLI 


HARMONY  BY  CHANGE  OF  BOTH  QUANTITY 
AND  QUALITY  ^ 

Three  yellows,  two  blues. 


Plate  XLII 


HARMONY  BY  THE  ADDITION  OF 
ANOTHER  COLOR 


0 


Plate  XLIII 


HARMONY  BY  THE  ADDITION  OF  BLACK 


Plate  XLIV 


HARMONY  FROM  A  DOMINANT  HUE 


Plate  XLV 


HARMONY  BY  INTERCHANGE 


Plate  XL VI 


Plate  XL VII 


From  Orange  to  Cream-White 


From  Yellow  to  Yellow- White 


ijen  to  Green-White 


From  Blue  to  Blue-White 


THE  TRUE  CHARACTER  OF  SOME  OF  THE 
SO-CALLED  "WHITES" 


(which  are  really  pale  tints) 


Plate  XLVIII 


From  Brown  to  Yellow 


From  Green  to  V^i'ow 


From  Pink  to  Yellow 


From  Red  to  Yellow 

SOME  CHANGES  BY  GRADATION  FROM  ONE 
COLOR  TO  ANOTHER 


Plate  XLIX 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  ASSYRIAN  TILES 


Blue-Green  Ground   60 

Greenish  Yellow   3 

Orange   6 

Purple-Brown   6 

White   20 

100 

The  variation  of  color  in  the  blue-green  tiles  is 
especially  fine. 


Plate  L 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  ASSYRIAN  TILES 


Blue     35 

Yellow   30 

White   15 

Dull  Red   10 

Black   10 


100 


Plate  LI 


Plate  LI I 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  MUMMY  COVER 


Pale  Yellow   34 

Green   27 

Blue   25 

Red   6 

Gold   4 

Black   2 

White   0 


100 


Plate  LIII 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  AN  EGYPTIAN 
MUMMY  CASE 


Black  Ground                                                        .  63 

Yellow  (all  through  design)   17 

Green   9 

Red  •   4 

Light  Red   3 

Blue   3 

White   1 


100 


Plate  LIV 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  MUMMY  CASE 


Green  ,   36 

Blue-Gieen  ,  „  24 

Yellow   14 

Red   11 

White   10 

Dull  Red   3 

Black   2 


100 

Much  like  a  parrot's  plumage. 


Plate  LV 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  MUMMY  CLOTH 


Dull  Green  . 
Bright  Green 
Red  ...  . 
Blue.    .    .  . 


29 
10 
10 


Orange  4 

Yellow   2 

Ground  Co\%>r    ...  40 

100 


Plate  LVII 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  MUMMY  CLOTH 


Deep,  Dull  Blue   60 

Gray   43 

Green   3 

Dull  Red   2 

Pale  Red   1 

Yellow  ,   1 


100 


Plate  LVIII 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  MUMMY  CLOTH 


Light  Blue     32 

Dark  Blue   17 

Light  Red    33 

Dark  Red   12 

Black  Stems   5 


100 

Gray  ground  ;  the  ornament  a  stripe  of  embroidered  leaves 
and  stems. 


Plate  LTX 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  MUMMY  CLOTH 


Red  ..........   25 

Green   25 

Yellow   25 

Blue.   25 

100 

Gray  ground. 


Plate  LX 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  MUMMY  CLOTH 

Red  .    ,    .    ;   50 

Green   24 

Blue   20 

Orange   Q 

100 

Light  gray  ground. 


LXI 


Plate  LXII 


Plate  LXIII 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  GREEK  VASE 


Light  Red   36 

Dark  Red   19 

Black   45 

White  .    .    „    .   1 

100 


The  Ground  partly  red,  partly  black,  white  in  fine  out- 
lines or  small  dotted  outlines. 


Plate  LXIV 


Plate  LXV 


Gray  Ground  71 

Black  24 

Red   5 

100 


Plate  LXVI 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  ARAB  MOSAICS 


Black   .33 

White                                                          ,    .  „  26 

Light  Red   21 

Dull  Red  ,    .    .    ,   .20 


100 


Plate  LXVII 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  ARABIAN 
ILLUMINATION 


Blue   20 

Green   20 

Red   20 

Pale  Red   10 

Gray   8 

Gold   10 

White   12 


100 


Plate  LXVIII 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  MOORISH  TILES 


Olive  Green   30 

White   20 

Yellow   20 

Violet   30 

100 


Plate  LXIX 


Plate  LXX 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  PANEL  OF  THE 
TAJ  MAHAL,  INDIA 


White  Ground   52 

Pale  Yellow   10 

Deep  Yellow   7 

Red   5 

Pale  Green   10 

Medium  Green   5 

Dark  Green   5 

Black   3 

Pale  Pink   3 

100 


Lilies  and  leaves  on  white  ground. 


Plate  LXXI 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  DAMASCUS  TILES 


Pale  Yellow  Ground  .40 

Deep  Cool  Blue  25 

Light  Bl'  20 

Green  13 

Brown  2 


100 


Plate  LXXII 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  CELTIC  ORNAMENT 


Green   50 

Red   18 

Yellow   I'T 

Black   7 

White   8 


100 


Plate  LXXIII 


Bill 

m 
m 

1 

COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  ITALIAN  MAJOLICA 
VASE 

\ 


White  Ground   38 

Deep  Blue   34 

Yellow   16 

Dark  Yellow   6 

Green   6 


100 


Plate  LXXIV 


COLOR    ANALYSIS    FROM    PANEL    OF  DUTCH 
INLAID  CABINET  OF  THE  15th  CENTURY 


Brown  Wood   58 

Light      "    19 

Yellow    "   6 

Green     "    15 

Dull  Red "    2 

Black      "    1 


100 


Plate  LXXV 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  SPANISH  EMBROIDERY 


Black  Ground 
Yellow  Design 
Red  in  Design 


50 
40 
10 

100 


Plate  LXXVI 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  SPANISH  EMBROIDERY 

A  harmony  of  contrast 

Blue  Ground   45 

Dark  Neutral  Yellow   30 

Pale  Yellow   20 

Gold   5 

100 


Plate  LXXVII 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  AN  ANTIQUE  PER- 
SIAN RUG 

Old  Rose  . 
Old  Yellow 
Black    .  . 

100 

The  black  was  used  in  fine  outlines  between  the  rose  and 
yellow  to  harmonize  them. 

The  following  eight  examples  have  had  their  harmony  greatly  increased 
by  time  which  has  toned  their  colors. 


55 
40 


Plate  LXXVIII 


Plate  LXXIX 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  AN  ANTIQUE  RUG 


Pale  Green  Tint  Ground   50 

Yellow-Pink   15 

Yellow   13 

Blue   10 

Black   7 

White   5 


100 

Black  used  in  fine  lines. 


Plate  LXXX 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  AN  ANTIQUE  RUG 

Camers-Hair  Gray   50 

Cool  Blue  Tint   20 

Green   20 

Yellow   10 

100 


Plate  LXXXI 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  AN  ANTIQUE  RUG 


Green-Blue  Ground  50 

Red  Tint  ...    ...  25 

Yellow   ...  25 


100 


Plate  LXXXII 


■■■■ 

„  1 

■ 

UM 

Hi ...  jinii 

■■■■■■■ 

HH9HHHH 

muuummmm 

COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  AN  ANTIQUE  RUG 

Blue  Shade  50 

Yellow  Shade  25 

Light  Blue  Tint  10 

100 

Plate  LXXXIII 


Neutral  Red 
Cold  Blue  . 


Silver 


66 
20 


15 
100 


Plate  LXXXIV 


THE  COLOR  SCHEME  OF  AN  ANTIQUE  RUG 
FROM  WHICH  PLATE  LXXXV  IS  AN 
ANALYSIS 


Plate  LXXXV 


■■■■ 
■■■■ 

I 

■ 

IHI 

■■■■ 

1 

IHHH 

■■■■ 

1 

Bhhh 

■■■■ 

Bhhh 

llll 

HH 

1 

■■■■ 
■■■■ 

■■■■ 
■■■■ 

ANALYSIS  OF  AN  ANTIQUE  RUG 

(See  Plate  LXXXIV) 

Dull  Blue  Shade  ...... 

.    ,  62 

.....  38 
100 

Plate  LXXXVI 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  JAPANESE  SILK 
TAPESTRY 


Old  Gold  Ground 

.  77.5 

Light  Green .  . 

.    .  1 

.  8 

Gray-Green  .  . 

.    .  1 

Brown  .... 

.  5 

Dull  Red.    .  . 

.    ,  1 

Light  Brown  .  . 

1 

.    .  .6 

Gray  ..... 

1 

Gold  .... 

.    ,  2 

Dark  Green    .  . 

.  1 

White.    .    .  . 

.    .  1 

100 


Plate  LXXXVIl 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  JAPANESE  SILK 
TAPESTRY 


Gray  ('.round   64 

Dark  Blue   8 

Light  Blue    .    ,     7 

Gray- Blue   10 

Brown   10 

Green  ,   1 


100 


Plate  LXXXVIII 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  JAPANESE  SILK 
BROCADE 


Yellow-Gray  Ground   qq 

Blue-Gray  Leaves  ............  j5 

White  Daisies  „  

Pink  Tips  to  Daisies   5 

Gold  Veins  to  Leaves  and  Centres  to  Daisies  d 


Plate  LXXXIX 


JAPANESE  CLOISONNE  VASE,  PI.  XC 

Greenish  White  66 

Blue  34 

100 


Plate  XC 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  JAPANESE  CLOISONNE 
VASE 


Green-Blue  Ground 

43 

Light  Red     .  . 

.    .  3 

Dark  Blue     .    .  . 

14 

Lightest  Red 

.    .  3 

Black  

.  7 

Greenish  Blue  . 

.  3 

Red  

9 

2 

5 

Gray  .... 

.    .  1 

Violet  

4 

,  2 

White  ..... 

4 

100 

The  fine  brass  outlines  add  much  to  the  harmony. 


Plate  XCI 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  JAPANESE  SKIRT 
PANEL 


Border 

Centre 

White  Ground 

.  23 

Green  Ground  .  . 

.  26 

Black  

.  11 

Shades  of  Red  .  . 

.  11 

Gold  Edge    .    .  . 

.  2 

2 

Purple-Blue  .    .  . 

.  4 

Blue  

2 

Dull  Gold.    .    .  . 

.  6 

4 

Dull  Pink  .... 

.  4 

.  1 

Gold  Edge    .    .  . 

.  1 

Black  

.  1 

2 

100 

Plate  XCII 


im 
■■■■ 

1 

■ 

■ 

■ 

■ 

1 

■ 
■ 
■ 

1 

II 

■ 

■ 

■ 

HHBH 

BH 

■■■ 

1 

■■ 

■■■■ 

MM 

■■ 

■■■■ 

COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  JAPANESE  BROCADE 


Brown   50 

Red   10 

Dark  Blue   8 

Dark  Green   8 

Light  Blue   7 

Light  Green   7 

Light  Brown    5 

White   5 


100 

Fine  example  of  a  harmony  of  a  dominant  hue. 


Plate  XCIII 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  CHINESE  PORCELAIN 

Deep  Lapis  Lazuli  Blue  Ground 

Turquoise  Blue  

Ochre  Yellow  

Violet  .  

100 

Plates  XCIII  to  XCVII  inclusive  are  from  Chinese 
porcelain,  the  colors  having  remained  brilliant. 


50 

20 
12 


Plate  XCIV 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  "BLACK 
HAWTHORN  VASE" 


Black  Ground                                                  ...  30 

Green- White  Flowers   26 

Green  Leaves    .....    20 

Yellow-Green  Leaves   10 

Brown  Stems   3 

Pale  Red  Flowers   5 

Yellow         "       .    .    .    ,   6 


100 


Plate  XCV 


■■■■1 

MMHMM                  ^^^^^  ^W*(W^!^ 

H 

n 

■■■■ 

■HI 

■■ 

m^mmmWM 

n 

■■■■ 

ilk...::.  H 

■H 

^HPi  '-"fwrv^ 

MWM 

■L   ■■■■■■■  

COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  ROSE-COLORED 
VASE 


Rose  Ground   60 

White  Panel   23 

Blue-Green   10 

Yellow-Green   3 

Yellow    7 

Deep  Pink   5 

Blue   2 


100 


Plate  XCVI 

I  


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  YELLOW  CHINESE 
PORCELAIN  VASE 


Yellow  Ground   44 

Light  Green  Leaves   23 

Dark  Green      "    8 

Cream  White  Flowers   16 

Brown  Stems  ,   9 


100 


Plate  XCVII 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  CHINESE  "EGG- 
SHELL" PLATE 


Blue   18 

Yellow    18 

White   18 

Green   18 

Pink   18 

Dark  Pink  3 

Dark  Green  8 

Black  2  * 

Gold  2 


100 

Pale  tints  with  delicate  decoration  in  strong  tones. 


Plate  XCVIII 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  BUTTERFLY 


Dark  Yellow  Shade   SO 

Medium  Yellow   25 

Light  Yellow   .  20 

Silver   15 

Black   10 


100 


The  black  was  well  placed  to  contrast  with  the  light 
tones,  the  silver  to  contrast  with  the  dark  tone. 


COLOR  ANALYSIS  FROM  A  STONE 


Pale  Gray-(  ireen   ...  40 

Gray-Green   ,    1    ......  .35 

Pale  Red   .    .  25 

100 

Ground,  pale  green. 


Plate  C 


COLOR  NOTE  FROM  AN  OLD  AND  PARTLY 
DISCOLORED  PROPELLER  FLANGE 


Plate  CI 


COLOR  NOTE  FROM  LEAVES  ON  A  TREE 

The  sun  glancing  across  the  smooth  leaves  makes  a  cool 
gray,  and  shining  through  them  makes  a  warm  green. 
The  shaded  leaves  are  a  deep  green. 


Plate  CII 


COLOR  NOTE  FROM  A  SUNSET  SKY 


Plate  CIII 


Plate  CIV 


COLOR  NOTE  FROM  EVER(;REENS  AGAINST 
A  GRAY-BLUE  RAIN  CLOUD 


Plate  CV 


COLOR  NOTE  FROM  A  SHADOW  ON 
WHITE  GROUND 


Plate  CVI 


COLOR  NOTE  FROM  A  BLUEBIRD 
A  harmony  of  cobalt  and  light  red. 


Plate  CVII 


COLOR  NOTE   FROM  A  SLICE  OF  AN  ORANGE 


Plate  CVIII 


Plate  CIX 


COLOR  NOTE  FROM  A  BUNCH  OF  AZALEAS 


Plate  CX 


COLOR  NOTE  FROM  OAK  LEAVES  AGAINST 
A  DISTANT  HILLSIDE 


Plate  CXI 


COLOR   NOTE  FROM   OATS  SEEN  FROM  THE 
EDGE  OF  THE  FIELD 


So  the  top  was  a  mass  of  soft  blue-gray-green,  while  the 
stalks  were  highly  colored. 


Plate  CXII 


COLOR  NOTE  FROM  A  PUSSY  WILLOW 


Plate  CXIV 


COLOR  NOTE  FROM  A  TREE  FUNGUS 
Texture  like  velvet. 


Plate  CXV 


Snow  in  Sunshine 


j 
i 


Dead  Grass  through  Snow  \ 


Crows 


Tree  Trunks,  light 


Tree  Trunks,  dark 

COLOR  SCHEME  FROM  WINTER  LANDSCAPE 
BETWEEN  BALTIMORE  AND  WASHINGTON 


Plate  GXVI 


SPECTRAL  RED 
NEUTRALIZED  BY  BLACK  AND  WHITE 


Plate  CXVII 


SPECTRAL  YELLOW 
NEUTRALIZED  BY  BLACK  AND  WHITE 


-green 


SS-  BZf 


